


Paperback Heart

by BriarBlanca



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lance has a shitty girlfriend, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Roommates, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Teacher Lance, but it all works out, hormones galore, maybe smut?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-02-17 09:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13074210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarBlanca/pseuds/BriarBlanca
Summary: With Lance getting kicked out of his girlfriend's place and unable to go back to his apartment, he turns to Keith for a place to live. Luckily Keith has no qualms about that, except for the fact that Keith has been secretly pining over him for the last six years. With Lance stuck in relationship purgatory, he has to decide if he wants to try and pursue a relationship with Keith or mend the broken relationship he had with his girlfriend. Will Keith and Lance be able to lay all their cards on the table or will they end up tearing their own hearts? Title based off the poem by Bill Winchester.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out my story. I'm HORRIBLE at summaries so I hope this story is way better than my little depiction. This story is actually based on a real event that happened in my life. It happened last year and as I was catching up with my friend all I could think about was that my story would make the perfect romance story if it ended differently. So voila! That's how this story came to be. Please enjoy!

The numbers glaring back at Keith just aren’t making any sense. Doesn’t matter what he has put into the computer, the debt he figured out wasn’t matching what the case records show. He rests his forehead on his desk willing himself to calm down.  
   
“You know I could just look at it for you? I’m always right on those anyway.” His neighbor states simply in the cube next to his.  
   
“Pidge please for the love of God look at this debt calc. I’m done. I give up. I’m quitting.” He hears shuffling and sees her poke her head over the wall. Her unruly caramel colored hair almost tamed by her headband but a few pieces escaped. She is extremely short so she must be standing on her stool.  
   
“Okay I will look at it but only if you text Lance back. He’s been bugging me to bug you to look at your phone.”  
   
“Huh I didn’t even realize he had texted.” He glances at his phone and lo and behold there’s five unread text messages.  
   
“Okay give me the case number. I’m ready.” Keith recites the case number out loud and Pidge mutters a ‘thanks’ as she’s already looking at the monster of a case Keith had struggled with. He glances back at his phone and sighs to open up the missed conversation.  
   
   
_Loudmouth Lance:_  
   
hey sooooo  
   
I have a question for ya  
   
Can I come over today?  
   
Keith?  
   
Keeeeiiiithhhhhh I neeeed youuuuu  
   
   
_Keith:_  
   
Oh my god knock it off  
   
Sure I guess?  
   
What’s this about?  
   
   
Keith frowns at this. Whenever Lance wants to hang out he never comes over. They always meet at a bar, coffee shop, or even a restaurant. What’s even weirder is that Lance has been M.I.A. since he started dating Emily last year. Keith wasn’t even the only person he stopped talking to.  
   
Even Pidge and Hunk got dropped. The four of them met in college and became the best of friends. Even after they graduated they all hung out at least once a week until Lance got a girlfriend.  
   
Keith silently wonders if this has anything to do with her. His stomach plummets when he imagines Lance might propose to her. They’ve been together for nine months or so which is kind of quick but Lance has always been a romantic. An engagement after nine months isn’t exactly out of character for him. He hopes he’s completely wrong about this.  
   
Suddenly he’s pulled out of his thoughts when his phone flashes at him.  
   
   
_Loudmouth Lance:_  
   
I’ll explain when I see you  
   
How about 5?  
   
   
_Keith:_  
   
Okay  
   
   
He’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. He hopes he’s not underestimating the situation. It feels like it could be anything bad. His stomach feels even worse now. He glances at the click and sighs. Only two more hours until he finds out. He tries extremely hard to put his focus back onto his work.  
   
As he figured, the next two hours inch by but luckily he gets all his casework done for the day. The work that he does feels extremely unimportant but he tries to remember that some parents are actually grateful for his work. But if he were honest with himself ninety-five percent of the work that he does involves parents that want absolutely nothing to do with him. Dealing with the parents was the least fun aspect of this job. He really had to make sure to reign in his temper while on the phone with them. This position made him really appreciate the anger management classes he had while he was a teenager.  
   
Up until a year ago he had no idea his job had even existed. Working for the Division of Child Support was a surprise he didn’t see coming. It certainly isn’t what he wanted to do with his life but after failing the panel interview to become a county sheriff, he figured this was the only good option that happened to fall into his lap.  
   
Luckily this position didn’t require a specific degree so Keith was able to slide right into a position with his criminal justice degree. He was still working towards becoming a county sheriff but the process was so long and he needed a way to pay for all his bills that this job would do the trick until he could finally enter his dream career.  
   
But until then he sits in his bland cubicle staring at two screens and monitoring his cases. He creates administrative orders, sets up cases with court orders and enforces both. And on days like today, gets stuck trying to get his debt calculation to match whatever awful case financial history had occurred twenty years prior. It was an interesting job that was true and he was glad he had a boss like Coran and his best friend Pidge who worked here or else it might be a completely different story.  
   
When Keith finally got off work he raced home to clean up a little bit. He usually wasn’t such a messy person but he had been so busy and tired this week he was in no mood to clean. Before he knew it there were soft knocks on his door. He opened it and saw a disheveled Lance standing on his porch. He pulled the door back and stepped aside and watched Lance slink inside and plop himself down on the closest couch. Keith followed him and sat on the opposite side.  
   
“So what’s-“  
   
“Emily broke up with me.” Lance interjected. Keith clamped his jaw shut. “My lease was up this month and she wanted to live together. So I was in the process of moving in with her. But then she changed her mind and ‘wasn’t ready to live with my depressed ass’. I tried to explain the situation to the landlord of my apartment but they already got someone else to rent my place. I can’t live with Hunk since he moved in with Shay and Pidge doesn’t have room for me. Is there any way I could stay here? You can set the terms of rent and all that. I’ll do whatever you want. You’re the last person I can think to ask besides my parents and I don’t want to ask them.” Lane started to choke up and Keith watched on as his lip wobbled and tears steadily fell down his face.  
   
Keith’s heart clenched at the thought of Lance living with him. He had swore up and down that he was over the beautiful, tan, blue-eyed and freckled boy in front of him. He had finally stopped pining but seeing him after so long put him back to square one. He couldn’t believe the next words out of his mouth.  
   
“Sure. When do you think you’ll move in?”  
   
Lance’s eyes widened in shock. For once in his life it seemed like he was at a loss for words.  
   
“Are you sure? I wasn’t expecting an answer so soon. You can take time to think about it if you need to. I understand.” The fact that he looked so vulnerable was breaking Keith’s heart.  
   
“Yes Lance I’m sure. I’m not even using the spare bedroom. It’s all yours.” He wasn’t ready for the look that Lance gave him. He might as well have hung the moon with the look he received. He watched as the other boy bit his bottom lip and then after a few seconds sprung forward to tackle Keith onto the couch.  
   
A laugh escaped him while Lance wrapped himself around Keith like a damn octopus. He tried his best to calm his beating heart but it was no use. Lane smelled so good and the fact that he was pressing up against him made him think his crush on the tan boy never lessened in the slightest. He reveled in his arms for a couple minutes before Lance released him.  
   
“Keith thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if you had said ‘no’.” He pauses for a second as if thinking about something. “I’m usually pretty good at having a financial buffer but my savings account is completely wiped out.” Keith frowned at that.  
   
“What happened?” That was apparently the wrong question to ask because he watched his face crumple again.  
   
“I bought an engagement ring.” He whispered. The breath immediately left Keith’s lungs. He had thought about this scenario but he also thought he was just grasping for straws. He never thought that Lance was that serious about this relationship.  
   
“Lance I’m so sorry. What’s going to happen now between you two?” He asked quietly.  
   
“I’m not sure. Obviously I have to get my stuff. We agreed to meet up in two months to see if anything’s changed between us. She doesn’t know about the ring so at least I will have pride in tact if this doesn’t work out.” He pauses and scrubs his hands up and down his face before continuing. “The fight was so awful. She kept telling me I’m not happy and I don’t have time to pay attention to her. We never do anything together anymore and blah blah blah. It’s like she doesn’t understand how depression works.”  
   
“Lance I love you but she kind of sounds like a bitch. Why don’t you just break up? You deserve better.” He refuses to look at him when he says that.  
   
“She’s not really that bad. She is right. I haven’t been happy lately. My depression has gotten worse and this new school year has been more stressful. Switching from middle school to high school has been tough but I just started getting used to it. I don’t know. Maybe a break will be good for us.”  
   
He didn’t look convinced and Keith definitely didn’t feel convinced. He wanted to ruin Emily for making his best friend feel like this and it only made it worse because he was watching Lance defend her. He definitely deserved better.  
   
“Well I’m sorry that happened. Stay as long as you need. Rose and I will be happy to have you here. Do you need help moving anything?”  
   
“No I’m going over tomorrow to get everything. I should be all moved in by tomorrow night.”  
   
Keith nodded as the words finally settled in his mind. Lance would be living with him. Lance. Living with him. What a strange turn of events. If someone had told him a year ago that Lance would be moving in, Keith would have laughed and told them that they lost their mind. But here he is. Now living with the love of his life (or at least that’s what he used to think).  
   
Suddenly his orange cat walked into the living room and immediately jumped into Keith’s lap, pulling him out of his dangerous thoughts.  
   
“Hey girl. We’re getting a new roommate.” She side-eyed him and laid down in his lap. Lance reached over to pet between her ears and she purred at the action.  
   
She was able to put a grin back on his face and for that he would be forever grateful. Lance should always be grinning.  
   
   
 *******  
  
  “So let me get this straight. Lance, the guy you’ve basically been in love with for six years is now living with you. And to make matters worse him and his girlfriend aren’t even broken up? They’re on some sort of bullshit-break?” Pidge looks up at him incredulously and all he can do is nod back at her.  
   
“Yeah pretty much but I got over Lance, so it wasn’t six years.” She scoffs at that.  
   
“Yeah sure whatever you say. I’m sure you tell yourself that to help you sleep better at night but I’m not buying it.” Keith is not willing to argue about semantics. And the more he thinks about Lance the more confused he feels. It doesn’t matter if it was for one year or ten years. The problem is that he was in love with him at all.  
   
“You know when you get off work he’s going to be all moved in already right? What is your poor gay heart going to do about that? Are you finally going to make a move?” Keith discreetly flips her off and sticks his tongue out at her.  
   
“My poor gay heart will be fine. And no, I will not make a move. I will never make a move because Lance is my best friend and he is not single, which you literally just mentioned.” She sighs at that.  
   
“Yeah but from what you told me it sounds like Emily isn’t exactly a real winner either. Maybe Hunk should talk to him? Lance would listen to reason if it’s coming from Hunk.”  
   
“Yeah that’s probably a good idea. It’s like he got brainwashed or something. He blames the breakup on himself.” She scowls at that.  
   
“Well now that he’s going to live with you and not the she-devil you need to keep an eye on him. If he says his depression is getting worse maybe living with you will help.”  
   
“You know I will look after him.” He deadpans.  
   
“Yeah you’ll watch him in more ways than one I’m sure.” Pidge smirks at him and he just rolls his eyes at her in retaliation before getting back to work.  
   
How hard was it going to be keeping Lance at arm’s length?  
   
   
 ********  
  
 Keith came home to small differences in his house. From a new pillow on the couch to new dishware added to his cupboards, the additions were more welcomed than Keith originally thought they were going to be. Maybe it was because of the delusional part of his brain pretending it’s because they were together and not just roommates.  
   
“Hey Keith?” Lance called from his new room.  
   
“Yeah?” He hollered back.  
   
“Is it okay with my stuff there or do you want me to box everything?” He could hear the hesitance in his voice.  
   
“It’s okay.” Keith answered back. He settled down on the couch and pretended to watch the TV but he was really listening in amusement to his new roommate mutter to himself about various things.  
   
Finally, he comes out and plops himself down on the loveseat before eventually laying all the way down. He looked pitiful.  
   
“Long day?” There was a hint of amusement hidden behind the question.  
   
“The longest day! I’ve been moving since eight this morning. At least I got everything out of Emily’s place and don’t have to go back anymore.”  
   
“Did you have to see her?” He asks unsurely.  
   
“Yeah, we talked some more but she still wants that two-month window to figure things out. She tried to ask where I moved to but I wasn’t going to throw you under the bus. The last thing I need is for her to pop up here and start accusing me of cheating or whatever.” Lance waves his hand flippantly but Keith is still caught on that last sentence.  
   
“Why would she think you’re cheating?”  
   
“I mean I would never cheat but she might jump to conclusions. She’s met you before. It’s not like you’re lacking in the looks department and I am a healthy young bisexual male.”  
   
Keith’s head was spinning at those words. Lance thought he was attractive? Had Lance talked about Keith to Emily? Did he ever reciprocate Keith’s feelings at one point in time? Maybe Pidge was right. Maybe he should tell Lance. What if this two month period is the only chance he gets?  
   
“Hey Keith?” He blinks up at his laying form.  
   
“Hmmmm?” He barely responds, still stuck in his own mind.  
   
“Why are we watching Animal Planet?”  
   
“Because frogs are fascinating.” He deadpans.  
   
“Okay, okay. I just figured you’d be watching Ancient Aliens or something. I didn’t realize you had turned into such a nature lover.” He teases and Keith huffs and throws a pillow at him.  
   
“You know what? I changed my mind, you can leave now.” He smirks at Lance and sees him look on in mock outrage.  
   
“But I’m too pretty to be kicked out.” Keith just laughs and throws the remaining pillow at him.  
   
“Okay fine I guess you can stay.” He relents with a chuckle.  
   
“Keith, I know I said it before but thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I was actually really nervous to ask you.” Lance quietly admits.  
   
“Why would you be nervous? You can talk to me about anything or ask anything of me.” He states dumbly.  
   
“I know and besides Hunk you’re my best friend. I just felt bad because I had kind of been blowing everyone off. I didn’t mean to do it, it just kind of happened. I thought you would have resented me for it or something.” Keith just shrugs.  
   
“Eh it happens. Hunk did the same thing with Shay in the beginning.”  
   
“It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t apologize though. I don’t deserve to call you a friend.”  
   
Keith wants to go over there and smack him silly. But Keith knows this is Lance’s insecurity talking. He’s always had a problem with it, no matter what façade he tried to put on. Keith had known Lance long enough to see right through it but it seems this time Lance was openly admitting to his negative feelings.  
   
“Shut up dude, yes you do. Just make it up to me by making me breakfast in the morning.” Keith says semi-jokingly.  
   
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll make you breakfast in bed!” Another rare grin makes it’s way onto his tanned face.  
   
“Whatever. What should we have for dinner?”  
   
“Pizza?” He hears him say uncertainly.  
   
“Pizza.” Keith says with conviction.  
   
Thirty minutes later they are sitting on the couch together with a pizza box between them while an 80s-horror film plays in the dark. He looks over and sees Lance completely engrossed in the movie while shoveling down his fourth piece. Keith picks up another and tries to pay attention to the slasher film but the only thing he can think about is if the blush on his face is visible in the dark of the night.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for updating on Tuesday! It was the holiday weekend so I had no time whatsoever to write like I thought i would. But next week's will still be up Tuesday. You guys are awesome for all the kudos, I can't believe how many people like this story. You're all amazing. I hope you like the update! It was a little hurried so forgive any errors you find lol. Anyways, happy reading!

“Honey I’m home!” Lance exclaims jokingly entering the door. He glances around for any sign of Keith. His car was there but he couldn’t hear any sign of life. Rose greeted him at the door and rubbed up against his leg. He picked her up and gave her his full attention for a few minutes before he heard soft snoring emanating through the house. He walked through the kitchen and peeked into Keith’s room to find passed out tucked under the overs. He frowned when he saw all the tissues around him on the floor.  
   
Keith was sick? No wonder he beat him home, he probably never even left. Lance put down Rose and looked inside their fridge for the essentials for soup and thankfully they were completely stocked. So he got to work making his abuela’s favorite soup that supposedly could cure anything.  
   
This was the least he could do for Keith. He still couldn’t believe everything that happened in the last week. It felt like his life had been turned on its head and he had never felt more confused.  
   
He should be mourning the loss of his relationship and wallowing in self-pity but surprisingly he almost felt numb. The weight of the diamond ring must have weighed heavier on his mind than he thought because the moment him and Emily went on a break he felt nothing but relief. Maybe it was a sign that they weren’t ready or maybe that they shouldn’t have even been together. Whatever it was, he had a little less than two months to figure it out.  
   
Although he didn’t know how he was going to fare living with the man that made him realize he was bisexual. When he had explained to Keith what happened with Emily he may have left out a few key details about why they really were on a break. And he wasn’t ready to tell him the whole truth just yet. For now, he would just admire Keith from afar and figure his shit out.  
   
“Lance?” A quiet voice pulls him away from the soup. He looks over and Keith had never looked this bad before. Bags appeared under his eyes and his face looked ashen. Even his hair and clothes were unkempt. His brows pulled together in confusion. He shrugged at him.  
   
“I’m making soup for dinner. I figured you could use some. How are you feeling?”  
   
“Like I’ve been hit by a truck.” Keith croaked out. He walked over to the couch to lay out on and pulled the blanket off the back to snuggle in once more.  
   
“Well soup is almost ready. Probably ten minutes left. Do you want to watch something?” He sees him nod his head and so he walks over to the TV and put on a scifi movie on Netflix.  
   
He walks back to the soup and makes Keith’s bowl first. He doubts he is going to want to eat but he’s not about to let him starve himself either.  
   
“You didn’t have to do this.” Keith says pitifully. He gives him his food bowl and looks at Keith. He seems zoned out at the TV. He can tell he’s not really paying attention. He feels the other’s forehead and frowns.  
   
“Of course, I did you, invalid. I’m not going to let you eat junk food.” Keith opens his mouth to protest but Lance stops him. “Keith I know you and I love you but just shut up for a second. I think you have a fever. Have you taken any medicine?” He sees the dark haired boy frown and shake his head. Throwing his own hands up in frustration he walks away muttering something along the lines of _‘I don’t even know why I bothered asking’_. He comes back with water and ibuprofen to ease the fever.  
   
He makes sure Keith takes all of it and then goes to the closet to get even more blankets for him.  
   
“Lance I don’t want these.” He says in a monotone voice.  
   
“Well you need to sweat out this fever so too bad, you’re just going to have to deal.”  
   
Lance tucks everything around him so he can easily eat his soup. Keith’s not very happy about it but at least he’s not putting up a fight either. Lance guesses that even with a fever, the other man could easily kick his ass. His brain switches to a scenario that depicts Keith on top of him with a sensual look and Lance pulls back like he was burned. Keith gives him a questioning look but doesn’t ask. Lance takes his own bowl of soup and sits on the other couch. The farther away from him the better. Thankfully he can use Keith’s own sickness as an excuse for the space.  
   
A half hour into the movie he notices the empty bowl slipping from Keith’s fingers so he gets up and puts their dishes in the sink. He pushes Keith down onto the couch comfortably and buries him under all the blankets. He feels his forehead again and he feels slightly cooler but he is going to keep an eye on him just in case. Hopefully he won’t have to take him to the hospital.  
   
Keith’s face is slack and his long eyelashes rest against his pale skin. Even with his mouth open and hair everywhere, he has never seen him look so peaceful. Before he even thinks, he runs his hands through the long black hair. He feels a shudder erupt underneath his fingertips but otherwise no other reaction escapes Keith.  
   
Lance can’t help but comfort the beautiful boy, even in his sleep. He would do anything for him. Maybe this thing with Emily was inevitable. No matter how hard he tried he could never get over Keith. His feelings had never felt more convoluted. He loved Emily, he really did. But in this moment Lance knew he loved Keith too. Even though he swore up and down that he was over him. He always tried to convince himself that this wasn’t love, it was just a crush. But he realized a while ago that crushes didn’t span over a five-year timeline.  
   
But didn’t he owe it to Emily to at least try? Nothing had ever happened with Keith and Lance didn’t think it ever would. At least with Emily he had a chance at happiness. She was the only one of his girlfriends that tried to help him through all his obstacles. Maybe being with Keith was just a pipe dream. Keith never showed any interest towards him and he was never big on relationships.  
   
Keith only dated one guy in college and it was a shit-show. The relationship only lasted a couple months before they split up if Lance remembered correctly. Keith was never a relationship guy and Lance was THE relationship guy. He loved being in a relationship. So maybe it was never an option to end up together. Maybe this was for the best. For now, he was going to take his time trying to better himself for Emily and see if she will let him come back into her life. Reluctantly he pulled his hand away from Keith’s hair and watched as his face marred into a frown. He burrowed further into his blankets and became dead to the world once more. He made sure to pick up the kitchen and once he was finished he resorted to his bedroom and laid down on his bed. Sooner rather than later he got pulled into a deep slumber.  
   
A cold claw gripped his face and he could feel the warmth of his own blood drip down his cheek. He was surrounded in blackness, he was unable to see anything. The air was chilly and the hair on his body was standing on end, in horrible anticipation. He knew it was there, it was always there. Waiting for him. It was always the same creature. He was never alone in these dreams, there was always a monster with him, hoping to hunt him and devour him. The stare of the monster was heavy against his face but he was unable to move, gripped in fear. He heard a low groan and he was hit with a putrid smell. He whimpered as the grip on his face tightened and soon the figure stepped in front of him. The grip on his face shifted to where he had shifted more towards his jaw. A few more droplets fell from the new wound underneath his jawbone.  
   
It was taller than him by at least a foot and had dark purple fur. Yellow eyes enraptured him and large animalistic ears twitched towards him. The monster sneered before leaning towards him and opening its jaw like it was ready to devour him as its next meal. The giant fangs glinted in the dark and the extremely long tongue unfurled from his mouth. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound emitted.  
   
He woke up in a pair of two hands gripping tightly onto his arms. Lance tried to push them away but it was no use. He was pushed back onto the bed. His body escaped fight or flight mode when he saw a comforting yet worried set of violet eyes staring at him in the soft moonlight entering his room.  
   
“Are you okay?” Keith’s voice was still rough but he looked a little better.  
   
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath and attempted to put on a smile but he could feel it falter. “I’m okay. Did I wake you up?” Apparently, the smile just made Keith look at him with a glare.  
   
“Lance, you were screaming. It woke me up. Jesus, Are you really okay? Have you always had nightmares like that?” The hesitation within him made it hard to lie.  
   
“Yeah. They’re not very consistent, but yeah. I’ve been having them the last couple of months.” He took a deep breath but it did nothing to slow his fast-paced heart-beat.  
   
“I’m worried about you. It sounded like you were getting murdered. Are you even able to go back to sleep?” Keith asked hesitantly.  
   
“I’m not sure. Probably not.” Keith frowned at that and then looked at him with steely determination. He crawled over Lance and slid himself underneath the covers. It was like every fantasy Lance ever had was suddenly coming true. He willed his body not to jump to conclusions.  
   
“Uhhh Keith, buddy, what are you doing?” The nervousness in his voice could be heard in the quiet of the night.  
   
“Sleeping with you.” He paused before Lance witnessed a small blush erupt on the other man’s face. “I mean-not have sex with you! Just you know, sleep in the same bed together.” Keith stammered out.  
   
“I’m not a child Keith. You don’t need to coddle me.” He tried to sound chastising but the fear still remained in his voice, nullifying any argument. “Plus you’re still sick.” He hastily added.  
   
“Well you’re always bragging about how strong your immune system is because you work with kids. Time to put your money where your mouth is. Or are you too scared?” He smirked at Lance and he felt a giggle escape his lips.  
   
“I’m sorry it’s just kind of hard to take an indisposed person seriously.” He teased. Within seconds a freezing cold foot was placed on his shin and he yelped.  
   
“How’s that for an ‘indisposed person’”?” Keith taunted.  
   
“Did I ever tell you how much I hate you?” He heard the other boy huff out a laugh and turn to face the opposite direction.  
   
“You love me.” He teased back and Lance was grateful he wasn’t facing him because he felt his face bloom red.  
   
“Thanks though, Keith. Even if I do actually get sick. It will be worth it. I’m tired of having these night terrors.” He said quietly.  
   
“Quit saying thanks. You would do the same for me. Can I ask what they’re about?”  
   
“Yeah they’re weird nightmares and they don’t make sense. But I guess dreams don’t either.”  
   
So Lance explains in detail the one nightmare he keeps having over and over again in slight variations. It’s always the same monster just slightly different versions of the scene where he gets attacked. When he finishes he turns towards Keith.  
   
“I would be terrified too. No wonder you look so tired lately. What are you going to do?” Keith asks him staring up at the ceiling.  
   
“I don’t know. I might have to see someone about it if these nightmares don’t go away. But for right now I’m going to see if I can get some sleep.” He doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. He has to get up in five hours and he’s already gotten in trouble with the principal for being late this week.  
   
“Okay well goodnight Lance. I’ll be here.” Keith rolls over and looks at him earnestly. Lance gives him a sleepy smile before turning over and facing the door. He feels Keith shift and the last thing Lance can think is that he can feel Keith’s heat radiate underneath the covers and he wishes every night were like this.  
   
 *****  
   
  “Mr. McClain, no offense but did you sleep at all last night?” Stephanie asks from the front row. Her blunt attitude was usually entertaining but this morning he found it harder and harder not to scowl at her. He takes a deep breath.  
   
“Stephanie, how is this related to biology?” She purses her lips.  
   
“Exactly. Let’s move on class. Please turn to chapter four and read from pages 75-90 and then when you’re done, answer the five questions at the end of the chapter. You will need the answers for our discussion.” Every student frowns but silently they do as they’re told with little complaint.  
   
Unfortunately, Stephanie was right. Keith was such a distraction last night. He had instantly fell asleep but somewhere in the middle of the night he was pulled into Keith’s chest. The other had even slipped his legs in between Lance’s. It made it even worse because Rose had missed her owner’s presence and laid in front of Lance’s stomach. He had been surrounded on all sides but he couldn’t even protest because being in Keith’s arms was all he ever wanted. He needed to get a grip on his hormones. He thought he was done with being all consumed with feelings for Keith.  
   
Luckily none of his class catches on to his internal panic because they are all doing their reading assignment with little distraction. A few times he has to call out a few students for having their phones out in the middle of class. But overall, it’s quiet and he has enough time to grade tests from yesterday. His students did better than their last test and his chest swells with pride. He tries to be a good teacher but it’s hard when the class as a whole doesn’t do well. He may have to change some things around on that exam. When he glances up at the class again they all seem to be pretty much done so he starts up today’s lecture and incorporates what they just learned in a more engrossing way.  
   
That class period blows by quickly and he’s glad he was able to make it interesting enough that none of the kids dozed off. Sometimes that happens and he feels so let down. But sometimes it’s not exactly his fault either.  
   
Finally, when it’s lunch time most of the students scurry out of the room but a few remain to ask questions about the lecture or their assignments. When the stragglers leave he finally relaxes and pulls out his lunch. He looks up when he hears the doors open. There is the most amazing woman he knows walking towards him with a concerned look on her face.  
   
“Allura, how can I help you?” Her silver hair is a stark contrast to her dark skin tone and she practically glows each time he sees her.  
   
“Shiro told me you moved in with Keith. I thought you were living with Emily?” Her brows pucker in confusion and concern.  
   
“Yeah, we’re on a break right now.” He tries to keep the hurt out of his voice and from the look on her face, he didn’t succeed.  
   
“What happened?” She asks quietly.  
   
He takes a breath before diving into the entire story. She listens with no interruptions but it’s easy to tell that she’s waiting for Lance to finish before hitting him with a dose of reality. When he finishes, she presses her lips tightly together, as if trying to decide just how much tough love to give him.  
   
“Lance, you know I love you, right?” She takes his hands and he can already see her quiet fury simmering underneath the surface.  
   
“Yes?” He’s scared if where this is going.  
   
“Okay good because I say this with the utmost love and respect.” She pauses and he winces, braced for verbal impact. “You’re an idiot. You just need to break up with her. This ‘taking a break’ is utter nonsense. She’s stringing you along and I don’t like it. You need to just end it.” She pats his hand and he just stares at her, carefully trying to choose the right words.  
   
“Well we both made mistakes in the relationship. I think the break is a good thing. I’m not really ready to let this go. I just need time to get my shit together.” She frowns at that.  
   
“Lance, it doesn’t sound like you were the one at fault. You didn’t do anything wrong? So what you’re a little more down than usual? Everyone has days like that. And she knew that you had depression all your life so that shouldn’t have been a shocking piece of information. Depression or no depression, you’re not going to be able to be happy 100% of the time and if she can’t realize that then that’s her loss. But don’t let her decision bring you down. She sounds wishy-washy.” She huffs and crosses her arms in disapproval and he can’t help but smile at her.  
   
“Well thanks for telling me that. I’ll give it some thought but I can’t guarantee I’ll change my mind. My depression can get really bad and she handled it really well in the beginning.”  
   
“Okay, well how is living with Keith? I don’t think Keith has told Shiro much about the situation.” He smiles, grateful for the subject change.  
   
“It’s going good! He is actually really sick right now though. We watched movies all day yesterday after I made him soup.”  
   
“Oh poor thing. I’ll have to get him something. Is it weird living with Keith at this time? Living with your best friend is one thing but you used to have a crush on him in college. I bet it’s weird.” There was just a hint of mischief that leaked into her voice.  
   
“It’s okay. Like I said, I’m trying to focus these two months on bettering myself. Keith could potentially be a distraction from my situation but both him and Emily deserve better. Getting back with her is my priority right now.”  
   
“Okay well let me know if you need anything, or Shiro, even though he’s Keith’s brother he’s still your friend too.” Lance loved seeing the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about her husband.  
   
“I will keep that in mind. Thanks Allura. I really appreciate it. But you better get back to your office, my students are due any minute and the last thing I need from them is any gossip about the young hot biology teacher and the beautiful school counselor.” He teases and she playfully swats his arm before turning around and walking out of his classroom. Thankfully he has ten more minutes before the first of his students start showing up. He scarfs down the remainder of his leftovers before preparing for the next class.  
   
The remainder of his day flies by and with little incident. It was mostly a quiet day with all of his biology periods and he was thankful. He wasn’t in the mindset to prepare a lab right now.  
   
 *****  
   
 Coming home to Keith’s place was a strange feeling but also a warm one. It was like he was meant to be there but Lance just chalked it up to having been there multiple times before. He’s crashed on the guest bed more than a few times after a hard night of drinking. Keith living so close to the local bars was both a blessing and a curse but it’s been a while since they both went out. Maybe they would have to change that soon. He missed his drinking buddy.  
   
Lance tried to clean up the house, even though there wasn’t much to do. He definitely didn’t want to be a burden on Keith after all he had done for him. He also tried to keep the fridge stocked as well as possible but he noticed they needed milk. Maybe he could get Keith to pick him up some on the way home. He felt a chill go down his spine when he realized how domestic that sounded.  
   
   
_Lance:  
Hey Keith can you get some milk?  
Pretty please?  
I’ll pay you back!_  
   
   
_Sir Keith:  
Yeah  
Don’t worry about it  
Anything else we need? _  
   
   
_Lance:  
Apples? _  
   
   
_Sir Keith:  
Okay  
Be home in an hour_  
   
   
His stomach fluttered at the thought of that. The fact that Keith said he should be coming home soon made his heart feel things he didn’t need to feel. He didn’t need to picture a domestic relationship with Keith, yet here he was doing just that.  
   
Lance tried to distract himself with playing with Rose and when he watched Keith enter the house he tried not to get distracted with the butterflies in his stomach. He was currently laying on the floor with Rose above him. When the other man saw him, his lip twitched and his eyes sparkled with amusement.  
   
“Having fun?” He asked while hanging his coat.  
   
“So much fun. Why did you go to work today? I thought you would have stayed him with that cold?” The other shrugs as he sits down on the couch like a normal person, unlike himself.  
   
“I slept in today but I was feeling better in the afternoon so I came in for a few hours. Although my boss wasn’t too happy with that. He thought I should have stayed home too.”  
   
“Well if you were smart you would have.” Keith frowned but Lance continued. “I’m glad one of us got sleep last night at least.” He says without heat.  
   
“You didn’t? More nightmares?” He shakes his head. Of course he didn’t remember.  
“Nope, you just slept like a damn octopus. You clung to me like a barnacle to a rock.” Immense color blooms on Keith’s cheeks and he looks anywhere but Lance as he mutters an apology before escaping to the kitchen.  
   
Why was he so embarrassed? It’s not like anything major happened last night. Maybe Keith didn’t like to be clingy? He was one giant question mark so he just assumed that was another one of his quirks.  
   
Keith mutters again this time stating he needs to lie down and Lance tells him ‘goodnight’. The poor thing probably overworked himself today and needed some serious rest. Well it was a good thing Keith wasn’t around to distract because now he could grade the tests he had been behind on. He smiles when Rose follows her owner into his room. After several hours passed and Lance finishes the final test, he begins to miss the noise and presence of Keith.  
   
 *****  
   
 A few weeks have gone by since Lance has moved in and nothing major has changed. All he’s gotten is radio silence from Emily but every day that passes, Keith’s presence is more than welcomed. He was a little more anal about cleanliness than he remembered from college but other than that they never really had any problems living together. They basically had the same schedule to spend a lot of time together both in the house and when they were out and about.  
   
Lance relearned everything there was to know about Keith. He found out Keith’s favorite cereal was cheerios, he loved singing in the shower (which blew his mind), he never ate later than 8pm, and he always slept with his socks on. It was nice getting reacquainted with his best friend. Even after blowing Keith off, he felt now their relationship was stronger than ever but that also meant that every day he had to beat down the feelings he had for him.  
   
“Hey what are you doing for Halloween?” He asked Keith one day when he was grading papers.  
   
“Nothing, why?” He asked skeptically over his book.  
   
“Want to go to Hunk’s Halloween party?” His eyebrows danced in anticipation.  
   
“Sure?” The hesitation to answer was clear in his voice.  
   
“Cool beans. I was thinking about going as Dracula this year. I vant to suck yer blood!” He roared in a horrible Transylvanian accent. Keith giggled in amusement.  
   
“Okay count Lancula. I was thinking about going as a werewolf which will be perfect seeing as we’re already perfect rivals.” Ouch right in the heart, Lance thought.  
   
“We’re brining back our rivalry from college?” He asked hesitantly. Keith must have been able to read him like a book because he shook his head.  
   
“We were never rivals dumbass. That was all you, doing that to yourself. I never wanted to compete with you.” He just felt more confused at this point. He always remembered Keith being prickly his freshman year of college. Keith caught on to his thoughts again because he added, “I don’t know if you remember but I sucked at making friends. The only way to speak your weird language in friendship was to compete back with you. We’ve never really been rivals Lance. That was the only way I could bond with you in the beginning.” Those words blew his mind.  
   
The fact that Keith had been playing at Lance’s silly head games was the weirdest type of epiphany. The only reason Lance pretended they were rivals anyway was because he was starting to realize he was bisexual and Lance was in so much denial it felt like he was drowning in it. He doesn’t know if this new information makes the situation better or worse. Keith’s face was slowly morphing into one of embarrassment but Lance shot him a grin to ease the situation.  
   
“Wow I feel like an idiot now. Well at least it all worked out in the end. We’re still friends so nothing really changes.”  
   
Keith smiled hesitantly and after waiting a few beats of silence between the two he resumed reading. Lance frowned when he realized he wasn’t paying attention. How much else did Lance miss between him and Keith?  
   
 *****  
   
  “Hey Hunk, can I ask you a question?” Determination and curiosity pushing him to call his other best friend. The one who knew him like the back of his hand. The one who went to college with him and shared plenty of video game nights with him. His platonic soulmate, or at least that’s what Lance liked to think.  
   
“Sure bud, what’s up?” His voice crinkled through the speaker on Lance’s phone.  
   
“Keith said he never took our rival seriously in college. Do you think that’s true?” After a few seconds, he responded.  
   
“Wait you actually thought he was serious?” He asked with sincerity.  
   
“Yes? He always competed with me!” Throwing his arm up in frustration, Lance scowls even though Hunk can’t see it.  
   
“Yeah dude only because you egged him on at every turn. What else was he supposed to do? Plus, the dude didn’t have any friends besides us, can you blame him?” Was he the only blind one in his friend group?  
   
“I had no idea.” He responds in a quieter voice and he can hear shuffling on the other end of the line and a door quietly closing.  
   
“Lance buddy we all knew you were having a huge bisexual crisis at that time so anything you were doing with Keith didn’t really make a whole lot of sense.” A squeal escapes from his mouth.  
   
“Wait, what!?”  
   
“Oh come on. You had big gay feelings for Keith, we all knew it.”  
   
“Even Keith?” His voice couldn’t go any higher at this point.  
   
“No dude he was in more denial than you.” He states offhandedly. “Oh shit. Uhhh Lance I have to go.” He says hurriedly.  
   
“Wait Hunk! What do you mean? Hunk? Hunk!” He cries out in desperation but it was too late because Hunk quickly says goodbye before hanging up on him. He stares at his phone just trying to figure out what the hell happened.  
   
Keith was in more denial with being gay than Lance was? He always thought Keith was more comfortable with himself than Lance was, even when they first met. Maybe he just put on a façade that was good enough to fool Lance. Either way, he was glad Keith wasn’t in the same place he used to be. But Lance still felt stupid that they all knew about his crisis. Maybe he wasn’t as stealthy as he thought.  
   
“Lance what are you doing?” A scream erupts from his throat as he turns to Keith. He has nothing but amusement written on his face.  
   
“When did you get home?” His voice managed to squeak out.  
   
“Just now. I thought I heard Hunk.” He says offhandedly.  
   
“Yeah but he had to go for some reason. Just hung up on me.” He glances at his phone again sadly, hoping Hunk would just call him back. He still had questions.  
   
“Oh. Do you want to get groceries with me? We’re running low on things.” He shrugs out of his jacket and moves to his room to change into what Lance presumes are his comfier clothes. A few moments later Keith is in sweatpants, an old worn out t-shirt, and beanie. Lance grins at the predictability of Keith.  
   
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Keith’s cheeks are pink and Lance thinks it’s too warm in the house.  
   
“Oh nothing. You ready to go?” He asks while zipping up his own jacket.  
   
“Sure am.” Lance grins and watches him walk out the front door ahead of him and he can’t help but glance at the tightness of Keith’s sweats. He sighs in all his repressed sexual frustration and he tries to think about nothing but groceries. Not the perky roundness of Keith’s backside. Just things like milk, cheese, lettuce and the like. Turns out this was going to be harder than he thought.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added the Galra in here just for kicks. I lowered the amount of chapters by one because it fits the outline I have better for this story but to make up for it the chapters will be a little longer. Yay!!


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. Here's chapter three! Yay!

“Okay! Here we goooo!” Lance exclaims as him, Hunk, and Keith downed two shots in a row. Keith hadn’t actually wanted to take them but the look Lance gave him turned him into a pathetic mess. So of course, he would do shots with him. Now several shots in, the buzz Keith had was growing by the minute. He feels an arm droop around his shoulders and he looks over at Hunk, who has also been pulled into Lance’s embrace. Hunk is Finn from the newest Star Wars movie and he definitely did an amazing job with his costume. Lance is a half-assed vampire and Keith much to his own surprise almost went full out with his werewolf costume. He already got a lot of compliments on it tonight. Lance leans into his Keith’s space and the scent of whiskey is incredibly strong on his breath.  
   
“You make a good wolf Keithers.” Lance slurs and swipes his finger across Keith’s nose, wiping off some of the paint he had there. He starts to tumble but Keith grabs him before he can make it to the floor. He feels Lance’s muscles flex and he tries to focus on literally anything else.  
   
“Whoa there nelly!” Lance giggles and plasters himself next to Keith, releasing Hunk from his embrace. Hunk gives him an amused look and mouths something along the lines of ‘good luck!’ before escaping from the kitchen. Keith just rolls his eyes in retort at his retreating back.  
   
“Lance please just stay up right for two seconds.” Keith grumbles out but even Keith knows there’s no threat behind those words.  
   
“Only if I get to cling to you all night.” He says into Keith’s shoulders and he tries to ignore the heat of his breath.  
   
“How much did you have to drink tonight?” Keith asks the taller boy.  
   
“Let’s see,” He pondered a minute before his face brightens again, “I had three shots of whiskey. I think Shay gave me a jello shot and then Shiro have me a mixed drink. But let’s be honest, your brother just gave me a cup full of vodka. I guess I drank a lot!”  
   
“Hey losers what’s going on?” Pidge sauntered over to them with a beer in her hand. Apparently she went costume-less for this party much to Keith’s disappointment.  
   
“Hey Pidgey! What are you drinking? That looks nasty.” Lance leans closer to inspect her beer bottle and almost would have tumbled if Keith didn’t already have a grip on him.  
   
“It’s the newest IPA from our local brewery. It’s not bad but it has a weird aftertaste. I would offer you some but from the look on your face that would be a grave mistake.” She looks concerned and slight interested at him as she takes in his inebriated state. “Damn how much did you drink?” She turns to Keith and he just shrugs.  
   
“Too much in my opinion. I’m surprised you came tonight. Usually you don’t come to their house parties.” Keith says before he takes a swig of his mixed drink.  
   
“I know. Matt told me to come. Apparently, I’m too antisocial, whatever that means.” She smiles over the bottle’s lip.  
   
“Well we’re glad you’re here! Aren’t we Keith?” Lance almost screams in his ear. Keith leans slightly further away.  
   
“Dude.” He just looks at Lance, which just confuses the other man as he didn’t realize what he had just done.  
   
“I forgot how much fun you guys are to watch when you’re together.” She pauses before a mischievous look appears on her face. “You guys are awfully cuddly tonight.” She smirks at Keith.  
   
“If I let go this fool is going to fall over. It’s already happened once.” She starts laughing and pokes at the taller boy’s stomach as he sluggishly tries to swat it away.  
   
“Dude you need to learn how to hold your alcohol better. I know teachers are known for drinking a lot on the weekends but we definitely need to raise your metabolism for alcohol.” She says almost disgustingly.  
   
“Yeah, yeah like I haven’t heard that one before. I know I’m a lightweight!”  
   
“Well take another shot for me. Let’s get you blacked out since you’re almost already there.”  
   
“Oh my god no Pidge.” She sticks her tongue out in response to Keith and supplies Lance with another jello shot, cackling evilly before leaving the two of them alone again.  
   
“Yay I love Pidge!” Lance exclaims and Keith watches his fake vampire teeth fall out of his mouth and onto the ground. He tries to picks them up and put them back in his mouth. Keith immediately swats at them making them land back down on the sticky laminate kitchen floor. Lance makes a grab for them but Keith’s quicker.  
   
“No that’s disgusting. At least let me wash them before you put them back in your mouth idiot.”  
   
“You’re the best. What would I do without you?”  
   
“Die, apparently.” He smirks at Lance and he erupts in laughter. Apparently, he’s ten times funnier to the other man when he was drunk. The laughter is infectious because soon he himself is exploding in giggles. This makes Keith really miss the days when they would go barhopping together. They got back into all sorts of mischief together back then.  
   
“You need to drink more and get on my level.” Lance states with determination. He goes to the counter and pours two more shots and apparently, they’re both for Keith.  
   
“I’m not drinking those.” He states flatly but Lance starts pouting and Keith gives in for the umpteenth time that night. The shots go down easier than the first ones he had and suddenly he feels looser and more relaxed. He didn’t even choke on the burn of the alcohol this time around.  
   
“There ya go!” Lance pulls him away from the kitchen once he’s satisfied with how drunk Keith is and steers them towards the beer pong table. Shiro and Allura were teamed up against a guy and girl pair Keith had never seen before who were dressed up like the Joker and Harley Quinn. Shiro and Allura were dressed up like Pam and Jim from the office. After some introductions, he finds out they’re coworkers of Hunk’s. They both work at the bakery Hunk works at. They both gripe about the grunt work they have to do and both retire to the kitchen to fetch more drinks once they accept defeat from Keith’s brother and sister-in-law. Shiro turns to Lance and Keith.  
   
“Looks like you guys are pretty toasted.” He states in amusement, one eyebrow cocked at Keith.  
   
“This jerk made me drink more.” He retorts back. He hears Lance squawk in outrage.  
   
“I didn’t exactly force you!” Allura starts laughing and Lance looks put out.  
   
“Do you want to play against us in beer pong? So far we’re the reigning champs of the night.” She purrs in competition.  
   
“Oh hell yeah. Come on Keith, let’s show them our amazing teamwork.” He hiccups before continuing. “We always won at pong at every party we went to in college. Isn’t that right Keith?” Lance puffs out his chest in pride and Keith just pats his arm, swaying just a little bit.  
   
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s kick their asses.” He tries to smirk but the wobbly ground makes him lose a little confidence. They stumble off to their end of the table and put on their fiercest competition faces, which were marred by the effects of their alcohol consumption.  
   
After the first few throws from each round it’s clear that Shiro and Allura are going to be the losers. Each shot from Keith and Lance finds it’s place in a cup. Allura and Shiro lose their momentum and look at the other pair in horror.  
   
“Told ya!” Lance yells as his final turn with the pong ball sinks flawlessly into the remaining cup.  
   
“You guys are so drunk! How is that possible?” Shiro asks in slight awe.  
   
“The more we drink the better we get.” Keith says with a smirk. Hunk comes up and hands both Lance and Keith a mixed drink and frowns at Shiro and Allura.  
   
“Oh man I would have warned you not to play against them. They’re monsters when they’re like this.” He looks at them with pity before turning his attention somewhere else at his party. Lance and Keith raise their hands to high-five and completely miss one another, sending them into another bout of laughter. They both chug their drinks and decide to retire to the living room and lay down on the couches. Keith sits on one end and Lance lays down with his feet in Keith’s lap. Keith instinctively puts his arms over Lance’s feet and Lance wiggles them, making Keith slightly sway. Keith gives him a tired drunk smile and Lance mirrors it.  
   
“We should probably go home soon.” Keith murmurs and Lance frowns.  
   
“Hunk said we could sleep in the guest bedroom if we need to.”  
   
“We only live three miles from here. We could just find an uber to come get us.” Keith says looking at Lance, trying to gauge his reaction. And for some reason Lance has a bit of a frown on his room and debates for a couple minutes before replying.  
   
“Yeah, okay. I guess my bed is more comfortable anyways.” He murmurs quietly. Keith sees a figure walk up to them and move Lance’s legs up in the air before sitting in between the two men. She turns to look at Keith and then Lance before placing Lance’s legs back in place.  
   
“Hello boys. Thank you for coming to Hunk and I’s party.” Her sweet voice matched her soft expression. Her skin was about the same shade as Lance’s but she had midnight-colored hair. Freckles were sprinkled all over her face and her chunky gold earrings glimmered under her pixie cut hair. She was dressed up like Rey, matching Hunk’s Star Wars costume.  
   
“Hi Shay.” The boys both stated warmly.  
   
“Thanks for inviting us. It’s been really fun.” She smiles at that. “We might leave though in a little bit. We’ve had way too much to drink.”  
   
“I noticed that. You both emptied out almost the entire liquor cabinet.” Keith felt himself shrink at her words. She must have seen the panic on his face because she started laughing.  
   
“I am just giving you both a hard time.” He sees Lance plop back down onto the couch arm in relief. “I am glad to see that you both had fun. I know that you both have had a hard go at things lately in your lives.” She looks pointedly at them and Keith is secretly worried Lance is going to start crying but thankfully Shay interrupts his thoughts. “I am happy that you two are living together. It will be nice to rekindle the friendship you both had in college. From what I hear you were both quite the pair.” She looks pointedly at Keith and he wills himself to think about anything else. Curse both Hunk and his perceptive girlfriend. They knew way too much without Keith even having to tell them anything.  
   
“I must go see where Hunk is and make sure he is not getting into any trouble. I am glad I was able to talk to you both for a little while. Please stay the night if you need to. The guest bed is all set up.” She looks at Lance and Keith can’t see her face but she did something to make Lance’s face torn beet red. She hastily makes a break for it before Lance can reply back to her. He tries to stammer out a response but her legs were quicker than his mouth apparently.  
   
“What was that?” Keith asks when she leaves and out of hearing distance.  
   
“N-Nothing.” Lance lays back down and starts to close his eyes, which meant it was time to start getting ready to leave. Keith orders them an uber and then smacks Lance awake and pulls him off the leather couch. They say their goodbyes to everyone they know at the party. They’re each pulled into countless arms and make a lot of promises to catch up with each of their friends soon. Once they are outside in the cold fall air waiting for their ride, Lance leans against Keith heavily. He’s glad he doesn’t have to work tomorrow because it’s 2 in the morning and Keith hasn’t drank like this in years. Keith and Lance drunkenly clamber into the backseat of their ride and watch Hunk and Shay’s place from the view.  
   
“That was so much fun. We need to do that more often.” Lance states against the window. He watches his hot breath emanate from his mouth and fog up the entire window. Lance just smiles and draws a heart and then next to it a smiley face. He looks at Keith with pride.  
   
“Yeah we really do.” Keith slurs with a smile.  
   
 ******  
   
 They were both out to dinner when they found it out. Keith had gone to the bathroom and they were both waiting for their food to arrive at their table in the corner of the pub by their place. When Keith came back, Lance’s face had fallen significantly. Tears were swimming in his eyes and his knuckles were turning white from clutching his phone so tightly. Keith returned to the table cautiously.  
   
“What’s wrong?” Lance just shook his head and handed Keith his phone. He took in the page that Lance had been looking at and frowned. Keith had told him not to stalk Emily on Facebook but apparently, he didn’t listen at all. There on her page was a post that she was tagged in. It was a picture of her sitting in front of a bouquet of red roses at a nice restaurant. She had a soft smile on her face and her blonde hair had been cut shorter than Keith had remembered seeing. There was no picture of the guy she went on a date with but the comments under his picture made it obvious that it was a date. No wonder Lance had looked so heartbroken. Keith gently hands him phone back but tells him to turn it off.  
   
“Come on Lance you don’t need to see that shit.” Lance’s lip wobbles but he finally complies and stuffs his phone in his jacket pocket.  
   
“I can’t believe she would do that to me.” He whispers before tears finally start running down his face. Keith immediately gets up from his side of the table and hunches over the other man and wraps his arms around him. Lance immediately ensnares Keith in a tight grip and sobs quietly into his shoulder. Keith rubs circles up and down Lance’s back in a comforting motion because he’s not really sure what he can say to make this situation any better. They stay like that for what feels like an eternity to Keith’s legs but he would do anything to make Lance stop crying. He hates seeing him like that. It cuts straight through his heart. Finally, Lance calms down and gently pulls back from Keith’s grip. Keith keeps his hands on his shoulders though and double checks him to make sure he’s okay before he sits down on the other side of the table.  
   
“God what a terrible start to our night.” Lance chuckles, voice thick with emotion.  
   
“Don’t worry about it. Do you want to leave?” Keith couldn’t care less about ditching their dinner if it meant helping Lance get through the situation he was in.  
   
“No I think we should stay. I really want that burger.” Keith smiles at him and Lance tries to copy but it’s just not the same. It’s obvious his heart is not in it.  
   
“Okay, whatever you want.” He says immediately. He wants to broach the subject but isn’t sure how to. He figures he might as well since Lance is already thinking about it. “What are you going to do?” He asks quietly.  
   
“Well, obviously, we’re not just on a break but we actually broke up. I guess this changes things. Guess I’m free to date around.” He watches Lance fiddle with his napkin in his lap and the only thing Keith can think about it is how bittersweet this situation is. He feels horrible that this happened to his best friend and he didn’t need to find out that way. The least Emily could do was tell him she was going to start date again. But with Lance back on the market it meant that Keith could finally tell Lance that he wanted to be with him.  
   
That night that Keith crawled into Lance’s bed because of his night terrors was the night that everything changed for Keith. He knew the minute he woke up with Lance in his arms that he never wanted to be with anyone but Lance. He had lied that day when he told Lance he didn’t remember cuddling with him all night. Because of course he remembered, that memory was permanently imprinted into his brain. He had finally gotten what he had wanted and it was all taken away when Lance’s alarm woke him up. Lance carefully disentangled himself from Keith that morning and he pretended to be dead asleep when Lance got ready and eventually left for work that morning. With the front door closing and Keith’s heart basically beating out of his chest, he slumped back into the bed and indulged himself in Lance’s scent that stayed on the pillows. Keith could slightly smell the coconut lotion he used. He never wanted to wake up from this fantasy and it was in that moment that he knew. He HAD to tell Lance, rejection or no, he couldn’t just keep letting this possible reality slip through his fingers. He needed to spill his guts to his best friend and no matter how terrifying it would be, not knowing would be even worse.  
   
“Are you going to reopen your online dating profiles?” Keith tried to joke but felt like he was choking. He wasn’t ready to lose Lance to someone else.  
   
“No.” He took a deep breath. “Even if she’s moving on, I can’t right now. I couldn’t imagine dating anyone right now. It wouldn’t be fair you know?” Keith swallowed and felt his stomach churn anxiously. He understood where he was coming from but if Keith waited to tell Lance and Lance found someone else by chance, he was screwed. Keith would be okay with waiting. He knew that if by some miracle, Lance had reciprocated his feelings he would probably make him wait anyways for fear of Keith feeling like a rebound. That was just the type of guy he was. Lance always took everyone else’s feelings before his own and dating was no exception. Keith would wait, he was okay with that. He would give Lance time to get his bearings together and heal his broken heart. And Keith would wait for him.  
   
After talking it out Lance decided that he was going to still meet up with Emily because that is what they originally agreed to but he was almost positive that he didn’t want to stay with her. He told Keith about what Allura had said to him that day in class as well as what Hunk and Shay had told him. They all agreed that Emily needed to be cut loose because she was hurting more than helping Lance. Emily was a nice girl but she just wasn’t the one for Lance. The more Lance talked about everything the more he was able to rationalize everything and the more he was able to rationalize everything the calmer he was able to become about the entire situation.  
   
Finally, their food arrived and they both stuffed their faces occasionally giggling at the food remains that stayed on their faces. It was nice to be able to help Lance pull himself out of the depressed mood he was in earlier, Keith thought selfishly. Keith would never hurt Lance like Emily did and he would always be there for him. Lance has always had his struggles just like Keith has had his own struggles but they never stopped being there for each other because of it. If Emily didn’t understand that then she didn’t need to be with Lance and she didn’t deserve him.  
   
The waitress came up to their table to hand them the bill, that unfortunately for them wasn’t split up for them. Before they could ask her to do that her eyes sparkled in excitement.  
   
“You guys are the cutest couple I’ve seen this week. You’re honestly so sweet.” Keith chokes on a fry he was eating and Lance’s face turns a brilliant shade of red that Keith didn’t even think was possible.  
   
“Um we’re actually not…” Lance trails off and this time it was the waitress’ turn for her face to turn a different color. She immediately apologized and hid her face behind her hands.  
   
“I can’t believe I misread you. Usually I never misread couples that come in! I’m really sorry about that guys. Please forgive me and let’s pretend this didn’t happen. I’m going to assume you’ll want separate checks then?” She tried to smile but it just looked wrong on her face.  
   
“Yes please.” Keith coughs out and Lance chuckles. She immediately bolts from their table and Keith and Lance watch as she retells the story to two of her coworkers. They both peer over at their table and immediately start talking again about the situation to their waitress. They both pat her on the back and finally resume working.  
   
“This dinner has been so weird. Can we please do something normal when we get home?”  
   
“Like buy a stripper pole and place it in the living room and get male and female strippers to perform for us while we make pancakes?” Keith asks while trying to maintain a neutral face. Lance obviously loses it.  
   
“Yeah something like that. I was thinking more along the lines of playing Mario Kart and listening to the 80’s playlist we have. But I mean we can do the stripper thing too if you really want to.” Lance chuckles and Keith shakes his head.  
   
“I’m all out of ones so Mario Kart it is.” Lance laughs again. They set up the system and spend the rest of the night playing their favorite game. They were pretty neck and neck until the last couple rounds where Keith won three in a row, off-putting Lance.  
   
“I can’t believe I lost again. You cheated.” Keith scowls at the other man and watches him throw his hands up in defeat.  
   
“Okay fine so you didn’t cheat. Whatever, it’s too late for me though, I need to go to bed. Have to teach those little shitheads in the morning.”  
   
“You call them little shitheads but you love them to death and you know it. Even Allen.” Keith retorts and Lance just sighs.  
   
“Okay fine, yes I will admit that they are my babies and I hope no harm ever comes to any of them, even Allen, who I dislike with a passion.”  
   
“What did he do this time?” Keith asks as he puts away the gaming console.  
   
“He tried to put some of his Gatorade in my coffee.” Keith wrinkles his nose at that.  
   
“That’s disgusting.”  
   
“That’s what I’m saying! I gave him detention and he wasn’t very happy. Said something about missing his date with Hailey because of me. Oh well. Hopefully he learned his lesson but from the look on his face, I doubt it. I probably just made the situation worse.” Lance states out loud. At this point he was more muttering to himself than actually talking to Keith about the situation but Keith listened anyways.  
   
“Well hopefully he’s on his best behavior from now on. I know that you’re their favorite teacher.” Keith says offhandedly.  
   
“What makes you say that?” Lance perks up with a slight grin on his face.  
   
“Because you would be my favorite teacher.” He says simply. Lance looks at Keith as if he grew a second head.  
   
“Wha-What makes you say that?!” His voice goes up a couple octaves and Keith smiles at that.  
   
“I don’t know. I just know you would be a fun teacher to have. You know a lot but I’m never bored when you go on your weird little biology rants.”  
   
“My rants are not weird!” Lance exclaims.  
   
“Yes dude they’re a little weird. I don’t need to hear any more about how a Blue Whale’s tongue weighs as much as an elephant.”  
   
“Oh hey you remembered that one! It’s super weird to think about! I wonder what kind of an animal weighs the same weight as my tongue?” Lance sticks his tongue out trying to inspect it and Keith smacks his hand to his own face.  
   
“Please stop talking.” Keith mutters through his hand.  
   
“Make me.” Lance says with his tongue still slightly poking out of his mouth. Keith’s face feels like it’s on fire and the weight of Lance’s words finally catch up to him. He immediately sucks his tongue back into his mouth and apologizes.  
   
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say that. It just slipped. I used to say it all the time to Emily. Not that I’m comparing you two or anything.” Lance curses. “That came out wrong. I’m sorry Keith.” Keith feels baffled at this point. Why did Lance say he wasn’t comparing the two? Was he? He wished Lance wouldn’t have said anything because Keith almost just leaned forward and kissed him to shut him up. But Keith already agreed to himself that it was too soon.  
   
“It’s fine, I get it.” Keith mumbles and he sees relief evident on the other’s face.  
   
“Okay good. I don’t want to ever freak you out or anything. Sometimes my mouth just says things that definitely shouldn’t be said. If I ever say anything dumb feel free to slap me or something.” Keith snorts at that.  
   
“That’ll be the day. Can I get that in handwriting?”  
   
“No way because I already regret telling you that. Plus, you slapping me would bruise my pretty face and I don’t want to deal with that.”  
   
“Fair enough. I think I’m going to bed though. Goodnight Lance.” He states and Lance says goodnight back before retiring to his own room. Once his teeth are brushed and his pajamas are on, he crawls into his queen size bed and suddenly wishes he were in Lance’s. He digs the heels of his hands into his eyes because that is the last thing he needs to think about right now. He glares up at his white ceiling and tries to imagine literally anything else but crawling into Lance’s bed. He closes his eyes and after an hour or so finally drifts off into a deep sleep.  
   
 ******  
   
 Keith is laying down on his bed totally not waiting for Lance to come home. He tosses his baseball up and down catching it before it hits his face. Today had been so boring at work that it went by excruciatingly slow. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, he was dying for Lance’s bright cheery disposition and funny comments. Speaking of Lance, he was surprised that he wasn’t here when he got home.  
   
Rose was asleep peacefully by his feet until they heard the door open and then she just opened one of her eyes and resumed her slumber, completely unbothered. Keith wished he had been a cat, they had it so easy.  
   
He watches Lance come into his room and flop onto his bed on the other side of Rose, who got up just to lay down on the newcomer’s back. He was in basketball shorts and a tank top with the sides cut open. Keith swallowed hard and pretended not to stare at his beautiful caramel skin peeking through the slits of his shirt.  
   
“You’ve had a lot of rough days lately.” Keith murmurs before tossing the baseball onto his shelf.  
   
“Yeah well I talked to Emily.” Ohhh, that couldn’t have been good.  
   
“What happened?” He asked nervously.  
   
“Well I was still really pissed at what happened, you know? So I texted her. I told her I thought we weren’t seeing anyone else during this time. She then proceeded to tell me that it was none of my business who she sees and I’m welcome to date around to.” Lance mumbles into Keith’s mattress. He continued on. “So, then I asked her if we were even still trying to get back together and she just said she wants to talk to me in two weeks. I’m assuming we’ll probably break up.”  
   
“I’m sorry man. Are you okay?”  
   
“Yeah I’m fine now. I kind of figured we would break up after she started dating again. At this point we’re just dragging it out. It still hurts though even if it’s for the best.” Lance turned on his side and pulled Rose in between him and Keith. She started to purr and rub against his hand. Keith at this point was desperately trying not to look at Lance in general because now his shirt slipped up his body and he could see Lance’s happy trail along with the deep V cuts of his ab muscles. Keith REALLY needed to get a grip on his hormones.  
   
“Rose will be the only girl you can rely on from here on out.” Keith tried to joke and it seemed to work because Lance chuckled slightly. Keith studied his face and he had dark circles underneath his eyes. Was he still not sleeping?  
   
“After we break up can you and me go to our pub and get plastered? I know alcohol isn’t the best way to solve my problems but I just need to let go for one night.”  
   
“Sure. We can do that. Should we invite the rest of the gang?” Keith asked and Lance debated it for a few seconds before shaking his head.  
   
“No just the two of us. I’m not ready for the pity looks that are somehow also filled with relief. I’m not stupid. I know no one was Team Emily.”  
   
“Okay just the two of us then.” Keith puts his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “We just want to see you treated right as well as be happy. You deserve that at least.”  
   
“If I wasn’t so drained I would probably be crying right now. Thanks Keith.”  
   
“No problem. Let’s get rickety-rickety wrecked after that mess of a meeting.” Lance grins at Keith.  
   
“Did you just quote Rick and Morty?”  
   
“Of course. There’s no better TV show.” He says simply and Lance nods back in agreement. Keith silently hopes the next two weeks fly by and Lance becomes single once again.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like/kudos if you like the story. I really appreciate you guys leaving your feedback even if it's just a kudos! Next chapter is the meeting with Emily from Lance's POV...DUN DUN DUN


	4. Chapter Four

Lance rounded the corner of his favorite café and his heart was beating out of his chest. He was only meeting his girlfriend (ex-girlfriend?) to see where the two of them stood and he was not happy about it at all. Sometimes he wished he was still six months in the past where they were happy and always having fun together on their adventures. But most of the time he didn’t. It was time to move on and he had been ready for it. It hurt his heart to force himself to move on but it was for the best. They would both be happier with this decision. Even if Emily never said they were done it was pretty obvious with her actions. And to be honest with himself he’s never felt more relieved. This thing with Keith was taking up most of his attention and heart and he couldn’t afford to hurt Emily any more than he already did.  
   
At one point Lance was extremely happy with Emily. They always had the best time together in the beginning. They made each other laugh, could talk about anything for hours, and were always there for each other. But like most relationships the first six months were nothing but pure bliss but the time after that was harder. They fought more about little things. She wasn’t happy that Lance spent so much time with his friends and was very insecure about his friendship with the female teachers at his job. Not to mention Keith. She was not happy about Keith, at all.  
  
From what Lance could tell her family loved him, they always welcomed him with open arms. Her dad was very friendly with him and her mom was always interested in what Lance did for a job. She loved the fact that he was a teacher. But for some reason his family wasn’t as excited about her. His mother always had a certain look on her face when Emily came around while his dad put up a polite front. His siblings couldn’t care less who Lance brought home, they were just excited whenever he came home. Maybe no one was team Emily except for him and even now he was no longer on the losing side.  
  
As he entered the café she was sitting in a corner, facing the opposite side of where he just came from. At least he had the element of surprise on his side for this little meeting and could get his coffee while trying to gather his nerves. He stepped up and ordered a vanilla latte. He watched the barista make it and as he watched he tried to calm himself. This was the calm before the storm. He didn’t want to be here but it was like ripping off a band-aid. They both needed to do it but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt like hell.  
  
His order was called out and he grabbed it with reluctance and he made it over to the table that Emily was sitting at. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun and she looked stunning even without makeup on. She had always been pretty but Lance liked it most when she didn’t have makeup on. To him it just meant that she was comfortable around him and he always treasured that. Her blue eyes widened in surprise and then a grim look came over her face.  
  
“Thanks for meeting with me.” She states as she fiddles with her coffee in her hands.  
  
“No problem. It was coming anyways.” He states before taking a sip of his drink, trying to calm the nerves he has. Several minutes passed between the two of them and Lance could never remember a time where things had been this awkward, not even on their first date. She pouted at his words and finally looked up at him. Her sweet blue eyes watering in the soft lighting of the café.  
  
“Look I’m sorry with how things went down. I never meant for us to break like that. I really care about you Lance but there are so many things in our way that neither of us can be happy in a relationship together. You meant the world to me and I just wasn’t ready for how fast you wanted to move and instead of telling you I just agreed to it and bottled up all my emotions.” Her voice shuddered and she took a deep breath to calm herself. “It really wasn’t my intention at all. It was my fault for not telling you I wasn’t ready. You were just so excited about moving in together and I just wanted to see you happy after you had such a hard time with your depression, I would have given you anything to see you happy like that. But in trying to make you happy I made myself miserable with everything. I’m sorry.” Her lip trembled and Lance couldn’t help himself, he cupped her cheek with his right hand. She tentatively leaned into the touch and closed her eyes.  
  
“Emily I’m sorry too. I didn’t know you didn’t want to move in together. I was happy just being with you, I would’ve been okay if you told me no.” She opens her eyes and gives him a flat look as he pulls his hand back. “Okay maybe I wouldn’t have been okay at first but eventually I would have. You meant everything to me.”  
  
“Meant?” She asks sadly, already knowing the answer.  
  
“Look ever since we took a break I had one hundred percent been planning on trying to get back together with you but ever since that post that you were dating again it felt like my heart ripped in half. I couldn’t imagine trying to get with anyone when I was still trying to get back together with you. You were my sole focus until that happened. After that I resigned myself to move on because you clearly were. It wasn’t fair to try and hold onto happy memories when reality had just struck me in the face. So, you will always have a special place in my heart but I’ve been moving on. Or at least trying to.” He takes her hands and she accepts the gentle reassurance.  
  
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. But just so you know that date I went on was awful.” She giggles, voice thick with tears.  
  
“Well it’s too bad for him.” He states simply. He tries to smile but all he can feel is sadness. He tries to hold onto her for the last time.  
  
“Well this is for the best. I have been reflecting back on our relationship and I was very self-centered and insecure with everything. I didn’t mean to freak out on you about the Keith thing by the way. I was just scared you were going to leave me.” After she says that she gets a pensive look on her face. She looks deep into his eyes and starts to smile. “Hey maybe after this you can finally pursue him after all this time.” A tear finally breaks through and she hastily wipes it away with the back of his hand.  
  
“What? What makes you say that? Why do you think I want to pursue him?” He stammers out and she gives him a ‘don’t be stupid look’.  
  
“He was part of the reason we broke up! You were always so happy to talk to him. You never looked at me the way you looked at your phone when you just received a text from him. I might not be Albert Einstein but I’m also not stupid OR blind. I mean I always thought I would never measure up to him in your eyes but I hoped given the chance I could mean something more than him.” More tears are falling and he can’t help but look at her dumbfounded.  
  
The night they went on a break Keith had texted Lance about hanging out and going to the bar or dinner and Emily had lost it. She said she didn’t mean to look at his texts since his phone had been open but was she saw wasn’t what she wanted to see. There were no flirty texts but it was also obvious to her that Keith wasn’t just a simple friend from college. The way they talked made them seem like something more. Emily had turned on him and accused him of cheating on her with Keith, which he adamantly denied. Of course, he would never cheat on her. He tried to explain his friendship with Keith but she wasn’t having it. She was convinced Lance had done her wrong. And in turn he finally told her the truth, that he USED to have feelings for Keith but those feelings were long gone when he met her. He thought she had understood but clearly something told him today that wasn’t the case.  
  
“Emily, I never cheated on you. I never hung out with Keith since we got together. I promise you, I really need you to believe me.” She took a deep unsteady breath.  
  
“I believe you. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt to know that your feelings for Keith never went away even after we got together.” He was taken aback by that.  
  
“I never said that.” He states dumbly.  
  
“You didn’t need to.” She says quietly.  
  
“I’m sorry Em. I really am. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” She nods her head as the tears dry from her eyes.  
  
“It’s okay. At least you were faithful. I guess that’s more than I can say for my last relationship. I hope you’re happy Lance. You deserve to be happy and I’m sorry I wasn’t the one who did it for you.”  
  
“You deserve the world Emily. You truly do. I hope we can still be friends. Maybe not right now while the wound is open but hopefully soon. You are a good person and I don’t want you out of my life for good.” She nods her head vehemently.  
  
“Absolutely.”  
  
He watches her take a sip of her drink and he does the same. They try their best to muddle through the rest of their conversation. They catch up with each other and listen to what is new in each of their lives. Thankfully they both avoid the topic of dating and their feelings. He finds out that her mom got a new job at a different hospital and Emily got a promotion at her job. Lance tells her of the shenanigans in his classroom and how nosey the kids are. She laughs, tears no longer in her voice and it sounds good. It reminds him of better, bittersweet times.  
  
No longer will they be a couple but at least they can remain friendly which is what he always tries to do in his relationships. He hates it when an ex is out of his life for good because the hardest part of ending a relationship in his opinion is cutting ties with that person. Emily used to be the person he texted the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed and everything in between. She would be his sunshine on a rainy day and his best confidant. She understood his struggles and would listen to him when he went on random talks about nothing. And she would come to him when she needed a shoulder to lean on. He will always miss those times with her and he will always cherish them but it was time so share moments like that with someone else. Maybe it would be Keith or maybe someone else. He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t ready just yet to think about dating anyone else.  
  
They laugh and talk for hours and he’s glad they have gotten past the beginning awkwardness of the actual break up. He was lucky in this regard because he’s definitely had worse. He’s had plates thrown at him to coming home to shredded up clothes. At least Emily was sane.  
  


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“So how did it go?” Keith asks from the couch as soon as Lance gets home. He is laying down with his feet propped up on the armrest while his t-shirt is riding up just a tad bit on his pale toned stomach and for a second he forgets that Keith even spoke to him. His violet eyes asking with caution.  
  
“It actually went a lot better than I thought.” He says as he moves to the other couch.  
  
“I was kind of worried she killed you and hid your body somewhere considering you were there for like three hours.”  
  
“Yeah sorry about that.” Keith shrugs at that. “We just caught up with our lives and talked about normal stuff. We agreed to stay friends at least so I’m happy about that.”  
  
“Well that’s good. You’ve had crazy exes in the past so at least she was normal about the situation. Are you sure you want to be friends with her though?” He asks while scratching his chest, turning to face him more.  
  
“Yeah, maybe not right now but definitely later on. She’s a nice girl and that won’t change.” He says with absolute firmness.  
  
“Okay. Did you still want to go get drinks now that it wasn’t as awful as you were thinking?”  
  
“Yes please. I need a drink still.” Keith chuckles at him and gets up to go get changed. Lance just sprays cologne on because he forgot some earlier and he needs to smell his best if he’s going to surround himself with the stench of cheap beer.  
  
Keith comes back with a dark red dress shirt and black pants and Lance whistles low before he even realizes what he’s done. Keith raises his eyebrows at him in question.  
  
“Damn son. I don’t think I look as nice as you. Do I look like I’m up to your standards?” Keith snorts.  
  
“Yes, now come on. Are we walking?”  
  
“Yeah let’s do that. It’s not too far plus our goal is to get totally hammered. So obviously driving is out of the question.” Keith nods in agreement. Lance waits for Keith to lock the door and then they set off to their local pub. The one with darts, pool, angry-looking bikers, as well as a couple older feisty bartenders. It is an intimidating bar at first but it’s their favorite after going there for so long. The bartenders know them by name and they sometimes chat up the bikers about football and what not. Sometimes they even talk politics with the almost-strangers. The walk is short and soon enough they enter the dark den and immediately order their drinks and tuck themselves into a corner of the bar. They receive several head nods in acknowledgment and also a few ill-behaved grins.  
  
“I feel like it’s been a century since we’ve been here together.”  
  
“I think it’s been about a year.” Keith says in response.  
  
“Really? I didn’t think it had been that long.” He replies in slight awe.  
  
“Yeah I think the last time we were here was the weekend after Thanksgiving.” Keith states simply as he stares at something behind Lance.  
  
“I can’t believe that. I’m surprised you still agreed to let me move in. I basically ghosted out of your life. I was such a dick, wasn’t I?” Lance then takes a chug of his drink and feels his head start to swim. Maybe he should have had dinner first, but it was too late now.  
  
“How many times are we going to have this conversation? Trust me, if you had pissed me off I would have told you. I’m not that shallow of a person, give me some credit.” Keith grumbles as he downs his whiskey and rum. With the way things were moving, Lance was sure the night would be over before it really started.  
  
“Hey, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that you deserved a better friend than someone who just drops you like a sack of potatoes when they get into a relationship. I shouldn’t have cut you out like that, I’m sorry.” Keith finally looked at Lance and Lance could see the lights in the dim bar reflected in Keith’s eyes. They had never looked more violet than they did now.  
  
“It’s fine. Maybe next time you get in a relationship just remember that you still have friends.” Keith tried to joke but Lance didn’t process it that way. He couldn’t even think about dating anyone right now. The only person who he could think about like that had a dark mullet, wore leather jackets, drove a motorcycle, and was sitting across the table from him.  
  
“I don’t even want to think about that right now.” Lance murmured into his drink. Keith frowned.  
  
“You’re not ready to try dating again? Why not? Loverboy Lance isn’t going to bounce back?” Thankfully the bartender replaced their drinks and they both started their second rounds.  
  
“Nope. I think I need to focus on myself and what I want for a second. Plus, whoever I date next deserves better than to be a rebound.” Keith smiled slightly at that.  
  
“God, even when you go through a breakup you’re still reasonable.” Lance and Keith laughed at that and they thankfully switched topics.  
  
With each drink that Lance took, the hotter he seemed to become. He stripped out of his sweatshirt leaving him in only a tank top, causing the 50-year-old bartender to wolf whistle. Lance and Keith just grinned at her from across the room where she was pouring drinks for the rowdier crowd.  
  
“Well at least you know Dorene is always an option.” Lance busted up laughing at that and Keith looked quite proud of himself. Lance didn’t know if it was the drinks or what but he swore up and down that Keith’s eyes would linger on his body a lot more now that his sweatshirt was off. He was pretty sure it was the drinks.  
  
After another hour or two the room was starting to spin and he could tell Keith was on the same page. They were going drink for drink and the mixed drinks they were having was hitting them harder than they expected.  
  
“Youuuu ready to ditch this stand?” Lance slurred. Keith’s brows furrowed.  
  
“What stand?” He looked around at the bar confused.  
  
“You know the-the um… the cold things you eat in the summer time?”  
  
“Popsicles?” Keith guessed and Lance jumped up and almost fell to the floor.  
  
“Yes! That! Those! Are we ready to ditch this popsicle stand?!” Lance exclaimed and Keith looked more baffled than before.  
  
“Lance, what? This is a bar…”  
  
“Duh and we’ve been drinking in it for the last three hours. Are we ready to go? Yes or no compadre?”  
  
“Yes. I don’t know why you couldn’t just say that…” Keith grumbled as he trailed off. He followed Lance out as they waved goodbye to everybody. Lance and Keith grabbed on to each other’s hips as they slowly made their way back to the house. Lance could feel Keith’s breath on the side of his neck and cheek. Lance tried desperately to ignore the drunken fantasies of taking Keith to bed but his hormones were not having it. By the time they reached the house his face was flushed but luckily, he could just blame it on the booze.  
  
Keith fumbled with the lock as the two clung to each other. Once the door opened Kith fell into the house with Lance right behind him. Luckily neither of them were hurt.  
  
They rolled onto their backs and started busting up laughing.  
  
“Ouch that hurt like a mother.” Lance groaned and Keith swatted at him, just almost missing him.  
  
“Yeah well you didn’t have 175 pounds of man meat fall on you.” Keith giggled.  
  
“Man meat?” Lance slurred. He tried looking at Keith with the beautiful blush covering his face but his eyes were struggling to focus.  
  
“Forget I said anything.” Keith tried to laugh it off but it came out more as a plea than a joke.  
  
With some unknown force, Lance scooted closer to Keith on the floor. Keith’s eyes widened as Lance’s face got even closer to his.  
  
“Lance what’re you-” Keith tried to ask but before anything could come out Lance’s lips were on his. They both quietly moaned into the kiss. Lance reveled in the pressure against his lips and the flavor of Keith.  
  
Keith clung to Lance’s back and widened his legs so Lance fit better against him. Lance tilted his head so he could have better access and for a few minutes, everything was perfect. It was exactly how Lance had imagined this moment would go. Well, not the lying on the floor part, but the part where their first kiss was perfect.  
  
Lance’s hands moved from Keith’s hips up into his dark ebony hair and scratched at his scalp causing Keith to bump his pelvis into his. Lance pulled back and stared at Keith’s pink face and even more pink lips.  
  
“I’ve been waiting to do that for so long.” That caused Keith’s eyes to snap open and stare at him incredulously.  
  
“How long?” Keith slurred.  
  
“Years.” Lance whispered into the darkness.  
  
Keith suddenly scrambled up and knocked his head into Lance’s on accident.  
  
“Ow Keith what the hell?!” Lance complained as he rubbed his forehead.  
  
“You’ve wanted to do that for years!?” Keith yelled.  
  
“Isn’t that what I said? Why are you freaking out? You’re hurting my ears. Let’s tone down the volume level please.” He whimpered into his hands.  
  
“I’ve liked you for years.” Keith admitted quietly which caused Lance to bust up laughing.  
  
“You’re telling me we’ve been dancing around each other this entire time?! Oh my god. We’re so dumb.”  
  
“Oh wow.” They both just stared at each other and grinned and then Keith leaned forward and connected their lips once more. Lance smiled into the kiss and pulled Keith closer. Keith’s tongue traced Lance’s bottom lip and he willingly opened his mouth to allow Keith to deepen their kiss.  
  
Lance was starting to feel light headed and had to pull away but that didn’t deter Keith. His lips moved to the other’s neck and mouthed down his chest. He slipped Lance’s shirt over his head and pushed him back down onto the floor. Lance’s hands flew to Keith’s hair as he started unbuttoning Lance’s pants.  
  
Keith mouthed at Lance through his boxers and it took every ounce of his willpower to keep his hips glued to the floor. Soon enough Keith pulled him out of his boxers and wrapped his perfect plump lips around him and starts to move his head. Lance’s eyes roll to the back of his head and he gets lost in the feeling of Keith’s warm mouth and the feeling that they were finally where he wanted to be.  
  
After a few moments, Keith pulls back with an unpleasant face and before Lance can even think to say any snarky remark, warm vomit is being spewed onto his bottom half. He can’t even find it in himself to be horrified because all he can think about is how Keith is feeling. He tucks himself back in his boxers making a mental note to shower as soon as he takes care of Keith.  
  
He picks Keith up as best he can and miraculously keeps him from puking all over the house. He shoves his face into a toilet before Keith heaves up his entire stomach. Lance just rests against the wall while rubbing Keith’s back and murmuring comforting words to him. He just watches as Keith moans in pain and rests his face against the toilet.  
  
“Poor baby. I thought you handled your alcohol better than this.”  
  
“Fuck off. Your dick triggered this.” Lance busted up laughing and caused Keith to giggle against the porcelain.  
  
“I didn’t ask you to go down on me. That was your choice.” Lance smirked at him.  
  
“And I’m never doing that again. I’ve learned my lesson.”  
  
“Nooooooo Keith, noooo. Please don’t say that.”  
  
“Okay maybe I can do that again.” Keith mumbled with a smile. Lance laughed and got up to get Keith some water and saltine crackers. Once he got Keith to eat and drink he was able to strip his shirt off and his pants and put him in bed. He started to pull away when Keith latched onto Lance’s arm and pulled him onto the bed.  
  
“Stay with me tonight.” He whispered into the darkness.  
  
“Keith, we live together.” Lance deadpanned.  
  
“I meant in bed with me dumbass.” His eyes were already closed so Lance agreed once he was able to brush his teeth and shower. Keith mumbled something that was unintelligible but Lance agreed nonetheless.  
  
The shower was a good break and he needed to clear his head. He couldn’t believe that not only did Keith reciprocate his feelings but he had been feeling the same way for years. Now Lance could finally move forward with being with Keith. He could finally have the future that he had dreamed about for years.  
  
Every girl he had ever had a crush on or a fling with he could never fully hammer out what their future would look like together. But with Keith it was easy, so easy to picture their wedding, their children and what raising them would look like, as well as them growing up and being retired and doing fun things together. Now he had a chance to do all of that. He wasn’t going to screw this opportunity up.  
  
When he was out of the shower he cleaned up the remainder of the puke where the incident occurred and made sure everything was tidy before he moved the empty trashcan towards Keith’s side of the bed and then crawled into bed beside him. He hesitantly put his arm around Keith’s waist and pulled his back towards his front, causing Keith to hum in contentment.  
  
Lance just reveled in the feeling of his warmth radiating against his front. He tried to imprint every sound that Keith made in his sleep to his memory. He snuggled his face into Keith’s hair and drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he’s had in a long time.  
  
Unfortunately for Lance, morning came too soon and he had noticed that as he had gotten older his hangovers were getting worse. He was already starting to form a headache and his stomach was unsettled. The only thing holding him in contentment was the fact that Keith was draped over his front.  
  
The other man started to stir in his sleep and slowly wake up. When his eyes opened, his brows burrowed in confusion and he stared at the chest he was laying on then looked up at Lance.  
  
“Lance why are you in my bed?” Keith’s scratchy morning voice broke Lance’s illusion from last night.  
  
“What do you mean? Don’t you remember last night?” Lance tried laughing but his heart was breaking as he watched Keith pull back and shut down emotionally.  
  
“No, I remember walking back home but after that it gets fuzzy. I think we fell on the floor but nothing after that.” Ouch, Lance didn’t think he could take another hit. His dreams were escaping out the window so fast, Lance was getting a whiplash.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“Did something happen?” Keith frowned at him and Lance tried to hold back the tears in his eyes.  
  
“Nuh-uh. Nope! You just got sick and I took care of you. End of story. I’m going to lay down in my own bed now that you’re awake and not on the brink of death.” Lance got up and got out of the bed, trying desperately to hide his morning wood. He escaped to his room and moaned into his pillow. He had no idea what he was going to do now.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD! I mean not really but I'm back to writing. I'm so sorry for the really long wait but this year has been bonkers. But I will try and post a lot more regularly. Hopefully at least once a week. Fingers crossed!


	5. Chapter 5

“I think something happened between Lance and I.” Keith stated over his cube wall.  
   
“That’s not enough context. Why do you think that?” Pidge asked from her side of the wall.  
   
“I don’t know but he broke up with his girlfriend.” He started to say but was cut off.  
   
“Ugh finally! We’ve been getting him to try and ditch the bitch for so long!” She squealed in excitement. She ran over to Keith’s cube and sat down on the extra chair.  
   
“I know. But anyways after that he wasn’t in as bad of shape as I thought he was going to be in. But we went out for drinks afterwards and both got really drunk and I blacked out a few minutes after we got home. The last thing I remember is us falling down on the floor together and laughing and the next thing I knew I woke up and he was in my bed cuddling with me. Is that weird?” Katie looked at him pensively as if she were trying to solve a puzzle.  
   
“I mean I don’t know. Didn’t you say you both shared a bed together a month or so ago because he was having nightmares?”  
   
“Well yeah but that was different I think.” He paused to think about it. “Well he did say he was taking care of me and the garbage was on my side of the bed.”  
   
“I think you’re overreacting.” She patted his back.  
   
“I don’t know if I am though. He keeps looking at me as if trying to find an answer. He doesn’t talk to me as much as he was before the break up.”  
   
“Maybe he’s just sad about it? I don’t know, I’m not a counselor.” She states giving him a shrug, which really if he thought about it, was about the extent of what he was going to get out of this conversation with her.  
   
“You’re no help.”  
   
“I never said I would be.”  
   
“You are the literal worst.” He retaliated.  
   
“I know. That’s why I’m here in this hell hole, I belong to the worst of the worst.” He started laughing.  
   
“Oh by the way how is the job process going for the sheriff’s office?” She asked quieter, being mindful of keeping Keith’s recruitment process a secret.  
   
“It’s going good I suppose. I have my panel interview next week so we’ll see if I pass it this time.”  
   
“Good. Let me know if you need anything.” She patted his shoulder before going back to her old cube. A few moments later a piece of candy was flying over the cube wall and almost his in the head.  
   
“Have some laffy taffy to cheer you up.” She said through a mouthful of her own candy.  
   
“Thanks.” Even though Pidge was terrible at giving advice, she had an amazing candy stash that she was willing to share with only those she thought were worth it.  
   
Suddenly his work phone rang, which made him glare at it. He saw the contact info pop up on his computer system and groaned when he saw a frequent caller of his, one he hated talking to. Rolling his eyes, he answered the phone.  
   
“Division of Child Support, this is Keith. Can I get your case number?” It was going to be a long day.  
   
  
   
When Keith came home he flopped face first on the couch and gave love to Rose when she meandered over his way. He tried to think of ways to talk to Lance about what happened that night but they all sounded terrible in his head. He wanted to just be upfront but sometimes that wasn’t the best with Lance. He could definitely be skittish when he wanted to be and that was the last thing that Keith wanted to happen.  
   
When the door opened an hour later Keith silently watched as Lance came in and got settled into the house. Lance shut the door and after a few minutes came out in his pajamas already.  
   
“You’re ready for bed already?” Keith asked but his voice was somewhat muffled by the cushion on the couch.  
   
“You have no idea. It’s been hell today. Monday’s are the literal worst.” Keith made a noise of agreement. He watched Lance get settled on the sofa.  
   
“Tell me about it. My least favorite custodial parent called.”  
   
“Oh, I think I remember this lady. The one that gets all the money?” Lance supplied helpfully.  
   
“Yep. She was complaining that her $2500 was a day late. It was supposed to come in on Thursday but instead she had to wait until Friday to get it in to her bank account. Like does she understand that she makes more in half of her monthly child support amount than I make in a month? She’s pathetic. Get a job lady.” Lance started giggling.  
   
“I wish I had a baby with some rich dude and was able to live off the child support alone. Is it too late to change my lifestyle?”  
   
“I don’t know. I’m considering it myself.”  
   
“Well at least you didn’t have two students throw up during class. It was terrible, I almost vomited trying to clean up the mess.”  
   
“Well you took care of me when I was throwing up. Why did you almost vomit this time?” Keith asked. He could see when Lance hesitantly looked at him and then looked down at his hands.  
   
“Well with you it was different and second of all there was twice the vomit. Not to mention they had some nasty stuff for lunch right before that smelled terrible when it came back up.” Keith wrinkled his nose at that.  
   
“Yeah I think I would rather take the phone call. You’re a brave soul Lance.” That caused the other man to smile.  
   
“Sure am. Can we watch Planet Earth?” Lance asked.  
   
“Sure.” Keith reached for the remote and turned on the TV and they both started watching the series together. After a few moments, Keith looked over and Lance was completely passed out on the couch. He seemed to be in a deep sleep already because by the time Keith had gotten up to get some water and feed Rose, Lance hadn’t moved an inch. Keith walked over to the closet and pulled a blanket over Lance.  
   
He went back over to the couch and instead of watching the show he just watched Lance. Whatever was going on between them, he needed to fix it. He already had Lance drift away from him once because of Emily and the last thing he wanted was for them to drift apart again. He needed to address it and nip it in the bud quickly. He couldn’t afford to lose Lance again.  
   
When morning came around and Keith had to go to work, he was dreading it. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lance and their situation. Not even an hour into his work day he asked his boss Coran if he could leave early and thankfully he said yes. The only good thing about the job was that if he left, no one would have to do coverage for him and he was not exactly needed.  
   
Keith tried to think about what he could do to talk to Lance without Lance running away and finally the idea hit him. He had never visited Lance at work so bringing him lunch would be a good way to get him to open up and catch him off his guard.  
   
Keith felt a little guilty about using food as a distraction and with the small hit he would take to his wallet, he felt it was worth it.  
   
Once it was time for him to leave work he made a dash out the door and down to his car. He picked up the food that he ordered beforehand and made his way to Lance’s school. He should have been nervous about going to his class and meeting all of his students. He really hoped they didn’t notice him too much. Suddenly his nerves were getting the better of him and he was trying not to freak out as he parked his car and made his way into the front office. The office lady looked like she would rather be anywhere than here. He signed in on the visitor form and she gave him a badge. She also gave him the number for Lance’s classroom once he told her what he needed to do.  
   
“And you’re sure it’s okay to just walk up and into his classroom?” He asked skeptically and the receptionist just gave him a bored look.  
   
“Yes, as long as you have that visitors badge it’ll be okay. Do you need directions and do you want me to warn him you’re here?” She popped her gum and Keith was pretty sure a bit of her saliva hit his cheek.  
   
“No, I’m good, I know where he is. Thank you.” He hastily wiped his face the minute he was out of the high school’s office. He made his way through the hallway and up the stairs. Truthfully, he didn’t know where Lance’s classroom was but he could figure it out. He was a big boy. There he found the door that belonged to Lance’s classroom but he didn’t know how Lance was going to react. There was only five minutes left of class before Lance had his lunch so he thought it wouldn’t be too big of a problem. He knocked on the door before letting himself in. He realized instantaneously how big of an error he had made.  
   
In front of him were about twenty-five students all staring at him with wide eyes. Keith looked to the front of the classroom and Lance was the most surprised of them all and he was developing a rather deep blush that was even traveling down his neck. It took a few moments before Lance scrambled to get his bearings.  
   
“Uhhh class this is Keith, Keith this is one of my classes, I guess.” Lance stammered out and all the students started whispering to each other but a few of them were bolder than the rest.  
   
“Mr. McClain is this your boyfriend!?” A dark-haired girl squealed in excitement. Lance pulled at his collar and shook his head.  
   
“Stephanie what have I told you about minding your own business.” He pinched his nose in irritation.  
   
“That wasn’t a no.” She retorted haughtily. Keith bit on his cheek to stop him from smiling.  
   
“You don’t deserve an answer.” He mumbled.  
   
“He’s really cute, you should be boyfriends.” She stated while crossing her arms.  
   
“I ship them.” Another blonde girl to the left of her stated with a grin.  
   
“Ooh me too.” A red-haired guy said.  
   
“Um I can just wait for you in the office or outside or something if you want?” Keith tried to suggest helpfully but that just made it worse because the murmuring grew louder. He had no idea what to make of all of this. It was freaking him out.  
   
“No, it’s fine. You can sit at my desk while I finish up.” He motioned for Keith to sit down at his desk and once he was satisfied, addressed the class once more.  
   
“Okay so tonight your homework is to read chapter 21 and then write down your answers for the five questions at the back of the chapter. And start outlining your paper that is due in two weeks, the outline needs to be turned in on Friday.” All of the students grumbled at that last bit, which caused Keith to smile. Lance finished his class by saying: “I’m letting you out early so you can leave me be.” All of the students took off like bats out of hell. The second the last student was out the door Lance turned to him.  
   
“What are you doing here?” He asked with skepticism.  
   
“I took a half day today, I have more than enough vacation time. I brought you lunch.” Keith opened the bag he was holding and pulled out the Olive Garden he got for the both of them.  
   
“Keith, my man, my buddy, my savior, holy shit I love you.” He said as he pulled out his favorite food from his favorite food place. Keith tried not to let the words get the better of him. Lance pulled up an extra chair so he could sit next to Keith and they could each lunch at Lance’s desk.  
   
“I thought I would bring lunch to you today since things have been kind of weird lately. I’m sorry if I did anything that night to make you upset. I really don’t want to hurt you any more than you’ve already been hurt.” Lance looked up at Keith, his blue eyes widening exponentially.  
   
“Oh Keith. No, it’s definitely not something you did. I didn’t realize my funk was affecting you that much. I promise everything is okay between us. You really didn’t have to bring me lunch today although that was very nice and I appreciate it a whole lot. So, if you want to pretend I’m mad at you so I can keep getting these meals, feel free. But in all honesty, everything is good between us. I guess I’ve just been in my head lately.” Lance finished lamely before taking a big bite of his chicken parmigiana.  
   
“Do I need to remind you that you make more than I do? If anything, you should be buying my meals.” Lance giggled with his mouth closed as he relished in the food. Keith copied him and started to dig into his own.  
   
“I’m sorry about Stephanie. She’s definitely the biggest troublemaker out of all my classes.” Keith chuckled in response. Her face had been pretty hilarious when she thought they were dating.  
   
“What did that one girl mean by she ‘ships us’?” Keith had to know. Lance scratched at his cheek and avoided Keith’s eyes when giving his answer.  
   
“It’s basically when you want to people to be in a relationship together.”  
   
“Oh. Your students are pretty ballsy, I will say that. Although you probably made it worse by not denying it.” Lance shrugged at that.  
   
“You have to understand that the rumors were going to happen whether I denied them or not. Even if I had said I was already married to someone else there probably would be some rumor about you being my outside dick.” Keith choked on his food.  
   
“Outside dick?”  
   
“What you’ve never heard of an outside dick?” Keith shook his head vehemently.  
   
“No! Do I even want to know what an outside dick is?”  
   
“It’s not too bad. It’s basically just when you’re getting dick outside of your relationship.”  
   
“How…How do you know what that is…” Keith stammered off in horror.  
   
“That Juvenile song? Crap, what is that called?” Lance ponders for a few moments then raises his fork in the air in triumph. “Slow motion! Haven’t you heard that song Slow Motion?” Keith shakes his head.  
   
_“If you loving my bark let me bury my bone  
I got 4 or 5 bad married bitches at home  
One of my bitches feel in love with that outside dick  
That outside dick keep them hoes sick…”_  
   
Lance sings off-key which makes Keith laugh uncontrollably. He gets really into it using his fork as his microphone and Keith so badly just wants to record the entire thing but resists the urge to do so.  
   
“I have so many questions.” Keith states.  
   
“Veronica was big into hip hop when she was a teen which means I listened to all the songs I shouldn’t have listened to when I was younger.”  
   
“I can tell. That was a very graphic picture I got. Thanks for that.” Lance and Keith were laughing together and Keith drank in all the beautiful details of Lance’s face. The small scar he had near his lip when he fell into the corner of his couch when he was younger. The freckles that were sparse but he always developed a few more each summer when Lance lounged in the summer. The brows that were perfectly defined but Lance never plucked them or did anything to them. He was beautiful and it made Keith feel immensely better that he had not screwed up their friendship that drunken night. Keith wasn’t sure what happened that night but he didn’t like it when he thought he felt a shift in their friendship. He was just glad to have his best friend back.  
   
“Hey you want to see a movie tonight?” Lance asked, pulling Keith out of his creepy staring.  
   
“Sure. Did you see something you wanted to see on Netflix?”  
   
“No, I mean like go out to the movies. There’s a movie I want to see in theaters, it’s that new scary movie that’s supposed to be really good. I forgot the name.”  
   
“Oh sure. Do you want me to get the tickets?” Lance shook his head.  
   
“No I can get them. Thanks for going with me.”  
   
“I can’t let you see a scary movie by yourself. I know how much of a scaredy-cat you are.” Keith smirked at Lance’s sputtering.  
   
“I resent that! That is not true.”  
   
“It’s totally true. Remember that time we watched that movie about the girl cave divers? We had to watch three Disney movies in a row right after that.”  
   
“That movie was terrifying and you know it. You can’t blame me.”  
   
“It wasn’t too bad.”  
   
“Whatever you say tough guy.” Keith jutted his chin out in defiance which made Lance giggle even more.  
   
“Hey Lance?” Lance immediately focused on Keith and his tone and Keith had to swallow his nerves.  
   
“What’s up?” Lance asked nervously.  
   
“If I do something or say something that upsets you, you’ll tell me, right?” Lance visibly swallowed.  
   
“Yeah man of course.”  
   
“Okay. I just don’t want to lose you in my life. If I fuck up somehow, I want to know to fix it. I know you hate confrontation but please tell me.” Lance nodded with wide eyes.  
   
“You got it.” Keith smiled in response.  
   
“Thanks man.”  
   
“And in return you let me know if I do something annoying as a tenant.”  
   
“Deal. But I must say there’s nothing new that you’ve done since the last time I’ve lived with you in college.” Lance laughed.  
   
“Okay, well I just thought I should say something. I’ve been looking at apartments and houses to rent already and I haven’t quite found anything yet.” Keith’s stomach dropped. He didn’t want Lance to leave. Not now, not ever.  
   
“O-oh? I didn’t realize you were looking already.” He said dumbly.  
   
“Well yeah man, I didn’t expect you to tolerate me forever. I don’t want to be cramping your style.”  
   
“Lance, you don’t need to move right away if you’re not financially ready for it. I really don’t mind having you as a roommate, in fact it’s been kind of nice.” Lance blinked at that.  
   
“It has?”  
   
“Well yeah. It’s nice coming home to you and talking about random things. Even just having you to watch movies with has been comforting.” Keith tilted his head when he saw how red Lance’s face was getting.  
   
“Lance, you okay?” He asked concerned.  
   
“Yeah, fine. Think I swallowed my food down the wrong pipe.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t realize how much you liked me living with you.” He teased but Keith just shrugged, clearly not taking the bait.  
   
“Of course I do. That’s why when I say it’s okay that you stay a little while longer, I mean it. It’s nice living with you.”  
   
“Keith there is actually something that I-“ He was cut off by the sound of several loud teenagers entering the classroom. They all paused when they gazed at their teacher gazing longingly at a dark haired male around the same age.  
   
“Is this the boyfriend Stephanie was telling us about?” One of the girls grinned and Lance rolled his eyes. Keith on the other hand was burning up like the color of a tomato.  
   
“I don’t know why you guys keep saying that. Couldn’t it be possible that maybe, just maybe this is my best friend Keith and he just wanted to bring me lunch to be nice.”  
   
“Oooooh, best friends to lovers is my favorite storyline Mr. McClain. You two probably haven’t confessed your feelings yet to each other.” They both flailed at that and refused to even glance at each other and the blonde-haired girl just smirked. “That’s totally it. I’m right on the money.” She murmured to herself then glanced at her classmate across the room. “Hey Jeremy! Twenty bucks says by the end of the school year, these two are doing it!” The kid named Jeremy just rolled his eyes.  
   
“Fine, whatever Kimberly. You’re totally wrong though.”  
   
“I’m never wrong when it comes to love!” She shouted and Lance groaned.  
   
“I hate my life. I don’t recognize anything, anymore.” Keith started laughing and then started packing up his and Lance’s leftovers.  
   
“I’ll see you at the movies then when you get off work?” Keith asked quietly.  
   
“Yeah, that sounds good. See you then.” Keith waved by to him and when he was leaving the door he heard: “Mr. McClain, how is that not a date?!”  
   
Keith was extra thankful he never chose to be a teacher. It turned out that kids were pretty ruthless. Not only were they more observant than older generations gave them credit for, but they also weren’t afraid to call them out on peoples BS. Unfortunately for him that blonde girl was right on the money when it came to Keith. In his mind, the best friends to lovers storyline was also his favorite but unfortunately, he only ended up in the friend zone.  
   
The hours seemed to slowly tick by and Keith was most definitely not counting down the minutes before he could see Lance again. Nope, no he wasn’t. Okay, so maybe he couldn’t help it. It had seemed like that time that Lance was with Emily and pulled away from Keith had made Keith’s feelings even more intense when Lance was finally back in Keith’s life. He had no idea how it happened but he was more head over heels for the idiot than he was in college. Keith felt pathetic. He wanted nothing more than to move on with his life, maybe get a boyfriend and try and have an adult relationship but deep down Keith knew.  
   
Keith knew that Lance was the one he would always want. He was the one that Keith pictured himself growing old with. He wanted a family and he wanted it with Lance. Maybe Keith should quit being such a baby and just tell Lance how he feels. Maybe Pidge is right. Maybe he is being a martyr when Lance feels the same way. But the problem Keith is having with that is that Lance just got out of a relationship with Emily and he told Keith that he wasn’t ready to date again.  
   
So even if he did return Keith’s feelings, he didn’t want to be a rebound to Lance. He wanted to mean more to him than that. Even though Keith would give anything, anything, to even just touch Lance in that way, he knew he couldn’t recover from that. There was no coming back emotionally from being Lance’s rebound. Keith wanted to be Lance’s endgame, which meant he would have to wait until Lance was ready to be in a relationship.  
   
Sighing, he picked up his keys and headed out the door as it was getting close to show time and smiled when he saw Lance’s car in the parking lot. He got out and knocked on Lance’s window, which resulted in him jumping several inches off his car seat. Lance quickly got out and frowned at Keith.  
   
“What the hell man. That was not cool.” He crossed his arms in defiance which made Keith chuckle.  
   
“It was funny. You weren’t expecting it at all.”  
   
“Obviously, I wasn’t. Oh by the way, the rumors about the two of us got more ridiculous by the end of the day.” That got Keith’s attention.  
   
“Oh yeah? What did you hear?”  
   
“I heard everything from you’re my husband, to my secret lover, and finally to my boyfriend of whom I’m about to propose to. No one was buying that we were just friends. I was about to add that we were roommates but that would have solidified one of their theories. I wasn’t about to make that mistake. They will take an inch and stretch it to a mile. They are ridiculous little monsters.” Keith smiled warmly at him in response.  
   
“Yeah, but you love them. You also love your job. No matter how much you gripe, you would never change your situation for the world.”  
   
“I hate when you’re right. Damn you Keith.” Keith smirked in response.  
   
“When am I wrong?” Lance grumbled at that, which made Keith laugh.  
   
They both walked towards the theater and Keith told Lance ‘thank you’ for the tickets that he had purchased in advance. Lance just smiled and shrugged it off like it was nothing. Being with Lance like this was so easy, it almost felt like a date.  
   
When they found their seats, Lance put up the armrest in between them and Keith quirked an eyebrow in response.  
   
“In case I have to have you rescue me from this awful decision I made.”  
   
“You mean save you from the movie that you chose yourself to prove that you aren’t a scaredy-cat?”  
   
“Whatever.” Lance grumbled.  
   
The movie started and like almost all horror films, it was a slow build. The beginning was very calm and set up the storyline flawlessly and then the ominous music would play and then scene by scene more things started to happen. Keith didn’t know when it happened but somewhere along the way Lance had buried himself at Keith’s side and was watching the movie from his between his fingers covering his face. He could smell Lance’s cologne stronger from where he was and he was even getting whiffs of his shampoo. His heart started to beat rapidly in his chest.  
   
“I told you this movie was scary.” Lance whispered to Keith.  
   
“Yeah, you sure did.” Keith whispered back. Little did Lance know that Keith’s heartbeat had absolutely nothing to do with the monster that currently adorned the screen.  
   
Every time Lance squirmed further into Keith’s side, Keith’s heart was beating in overdrive and he didn’t think he could take it very much longer. But fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how Keith looked at it, the movie was over. Lance looked at Keith with absolute horror in his eyes.  
   
“Why did you let me pick that movie?” He squealed loudly enough to where the neighbors on both sides of them looked at him in amusement.  
   
“Dude, you picked that movie. That was your own fault. But clearly I still should have told you no.” Keith said exasperated as they finally got up from their chairs.  
   
“That movie was nuts! Can I sleep with you tonight?” Keith’s eyes almost bugged out of his head.  
   
“Wait, really?”  
   
“Why would I ask if I wasn’t serious?” Lance complained.  
   
“Okay fine. But don’t hog the covers like you usually do or I’ll kick you out.” Lance nodded fervently.  
   
“Deal. Thank you.”  
   
“You’re welcome. It’s not like it’s a big deal.” Keith shrugged.  
   
“No I mean for everything. For hanging out with me and spending time with me. I know you have a life outside of me but I appreciate being able to hang out with you.”  
   
“I like spending time with you Lance. I literally just told you this a few hours ago.” That made Lance blush for some reason.  
   
“I know. I just appreciate it, that’s all. It doesn’t even feel like I just went through a break up. Everything is so easy around you, it’s like you numb my pain and it’s no longer there. And it’s been nice being able to spend time with my best friend again. It’s like we’re catching up on lost time.”  
   
“Well I guess in a way we sort of are.”  
   
“Yeah I guess you’re right.”  
   
“How are you doing with everything?” Lance shrugged.  
   
“A lot better than I thought I was. I think I might have fallen out of love with her before we ever broke up. For some reason, it’s not hitting me as hard as break ups usually do. It’s a weird thing I can’t really explain. Maybe it’s because I got closure with her that I usually don’t that made the break up a lot easier but I don’t feel like I’m mourning the relationship.”  
   
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Keith asked.  
   
“Yeah, it’s just weird. I thought I would feel more.”  
   
“Well don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Sometimes it just won’t hurt as much as you thought and sometimes you move on quicker than you would have thought. Not every relationship is the same. Not everyone reacts to a break up the same. I wouldn’t worry about it. When it comes to relationships, love, and breaking up, there is no such thing as normal.” Lance looked at him as if he had grown two heads.  
   
“Where in the hell did that come from? Did you eat an edible or something before you came here? You’re usually so emotionally stunted and now all of a sudden, you’re a relationship guru? What the hell, Keith.” Lance asked in astonishment. Keith just shrugged.  
   
“What can I say? Observing people’s relationships sort of makes me a guru. Now let’s get home before you question me further.” Lance gaped after him before returning to his own car and following Keith home.  
   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe it took me so long to post this chapter. I am not that productive lately. My new job is more stressful than my last so my creativity has gone down the tank but I will not quit this story! Blah anyways I'm so sorry but here's the latest installment!

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this story go ahead and comment and kudos! I love hearing from you guys. This chapter was shorter than I wanted and more boring but it was only because it was setting up the background. I will try and update every Tuesday!


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